


Western Lights

by HannahSheree



Category: Glee
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-09
Updated: 2016-05-30
Packaged: 2018-06-01 07:23:42
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 17
Words: 89,398
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6508393
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HannahSheree/pseuds/HannahSheree
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sebastian awakes on the first day of his Spring Break to a new world, with apparently only he and Hunter as the remaining humans. Suddenly, they're fleeing and fighting for their lives. They know they'll survive; they have self-preservation instincts, and have absolutely no intentions of getting their hands dirty. Still, they somehow have to escape, and stay pretty while doing so. It's not as easy as it looks. This is a story of a journey, of survival, and falling in love with your stupid best friend in the worst situation, and not caring.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Soooo, I took this down a while ago because I was planning on editing it, rewriting it, and then sending it off for publication. And then I didn't. And people kept asking me to repost is, so... here it is, exactly as it was before.  
> This fic was almost 100% edited by midnight12181/Sprink, so due credit goes there.   
> I probably won't include notes for the rest of this. :)

_Day 1._

Sebastian’s alarm jerked him awake, and he threw it across the room grumpily, with surprising strength for someone just barely awake. He lay in bed for several minutes, face buried in his pillow as he thought of various ways to kill his friends for deciding that fuck-off o’clock (also known as four AM) was an excellent time to wake up. It was supposed to be his Spring Break and what was he doing? Waking up earlier than he cared to think about. He should have been just sliding into bed now, not throwing the covers off as he tumbled to the floor in a pissed off heap. He ran a hand over his face, scrubbed absently at the barely there stubble across his cheeks as he blinked his eyes into the darkness of his room. Fuck. It wasn’t even light.

Eventually, he pushed himself off the mess of blankets he’d pulled onto the floor, and flicked on his lamp, the light casting a bright white glow onto the walls. Half-conscious, he thanked his past self for having the forethought to set his clothing out the night before, and packing his bag then as well. All he had to do was put his phone and charger into his leather duffle bag, and crash on the couch whilst his roommates prepared themselves.

He somehow managed to get dressed without issue, even getting his shirt on the right way the first time around. He flicked the lamp off, not bothering to make his bed (he never did anyway), grabbed his bag and shuffled into the living room, stumbled to the kitchen. He stole the mug of steaming coffee off of the kitchen bench, climbed into a bar stool and lay himself across the counter, cold fingers wrapping around the burning heat of the mug.

“You’re my best friend.” Sebastian told Hunter from his forearm, poking a bleary eye out over the top of his arms to see Hunter glaring at him.

“That’s my coffee.” Hunter argued, going to take it back.

“Surely you’re used to this.” Sebastian slurred. “I steal your coffee every morning.”

“Hmph.” Hunter grumbled before huffing with frustration and turning back to the coffee machine to make himself another cup. Sebastian grinned, victorious. Most mornings Hunter would fight him on it, but apparently even the early bird felt that 4 AM was too early to be battling Sebastian. Besides, Sebastian  _was_  insufferable without his morning coffee.

Sebastian sipped the black coffee with a satisfied hum, and as the liquid in the mug decreased, Sebastian’s posture improved until he was finally sitting up properly.

“Is James up?” Sebastian asked with a frown, eyeing their roommates closed door.

“He’s not here.” Hunter said from his position on the kitchen bench. He was eating from a bowl literally half the size of his head but Sebastian had apparently caught him between mouthfuls.

“If he’s not back in time, we’re leaving without him.”

“My thoughts exactly.” This time, Hunter did have a mouthful of food, but Sebastian hardly noticed. As Sebastian grabbed himself another coffee, he watched Hunter. His legs were crossed Indian style as he sat on the counter, head all but buried in his breakfast (whatever it was; oatmeal or something), occasionally peeking out for a sip of his coffee.

When 4:30 rolled around, Hunter re-emerged from his room, smelling of toothpaste and aftershave, his own duffle bag slung neatly over his shoulders. Sebastian rinsed his cup and grabbed his own, sending another small frown towards their roommates door again. He shrugged; tough luck for James. They had places to be, and asses to be banging.

Sebastian shrugged into his heavy pea coat, wrapping his scarf around his neck, winked at Hunter as he pushed past him into the hallway.

“Such a gentleman,” Sebastian teased, running a hand across his firm stomach as he passed. Hunter rolled his eyes, but didn’t mutter his usual “Still straight, Smythe.” Actually, he hadn’t done that in months, instead just smirked whenever Sebastian jokingly hit on him. It didn’t bother Sebastian though; as long as he didn’t punch Sebastian across the face, he’d keep doing what he did best.

Now that he was more awake, it was in the hallway that Sebastian felt it. He wasn’t sure  _what_  he felt, but… something wasn’t right. He looked out the window just beside their apartment door down at the street. Dead silence. Yes, it was early, but their street was never quiet, never still at any point in the day. The silence around them was eerie and Sebastian looked over at Hunter, who also wore an expression of concern, a tiny crease between the eyebrows. Looking around with narrowed eyes, he jogged to the end of their floor to look down the stairs before jogging back to their apartment door.

“Hunt, do you-,” Sebastian started, voice quieter than he intended but almost afraid to break the dead silence that fell through the city and apartment block.

Hunter nodded once, still looking outside. “I know. Something isn’t right. Go check outside.” When Sebastian made to move past Hunter on the stairs, Hunter threw an arm out. “No, take the fire escape. I’ll investigate down here.”

Sebastian rolled his eyes but figured Hunter being the perfect little soldier knew what he was doing. He made his way back to the apartment, fumbling with his keys. He dropped his duffle bag just inside the door and crossed the living area, struggling to get the stiff window up. Gee, lucky there wasn’t a fire or anything, or they’d all be screwed. The window creaked loudly as it opened, the sound echoing off the building around him.

Outside, it was dead silent. There was no sound of traffic. He could never hear any birds from their apartment over the noise of traffic or the sounds of people wandering their busy neighbourhood. Now… Nothing. His feet landing on the fire escape sounded excessively loud as he jumped through the window, the rubber of his Converse startling him as they squeaked.

The alleyway below him was empty, though it was nothing unusual at this hour though. He hopped down the flights, the sound ringing around him. He could hear his own breathing, something he was pretty sure he hadn’t been able to do in years. This was New York City; it was never silent, not like this.

He dropped down to the alleyway easily, grateful for his height making the drop easy, his knees bending slightly to make his fall less rough. For a moment, he just stood, looking around. The sky above him was… blue. There was no sign of smog or trickles of fumes in the air he realised with a start. Heart starting to pound with unease, he jogged towards the street, hoping that this was all some huge misunderstanding. Maybe the area had been cut off for road works, or there had been an accident or… something.

The street was completely empty. He looked in both directions and as far as his eyes could see, nobody lingered in the streets, not even bums sleeping on the edges of it. Slowly, he took a step forward, one… two… Every hair on his body stood on end, prickling through his clothing. He rubbed a hand over the back of his neck, as if trying to force the hair to lie flat again.

As far as he could see, there was nothing going on. That was somewhat of a problem, to say the least. It was as if he and Hunter had gone to bed in a normal world and as they had slept had become the only two humans left in New York. Even as he strained his ears, he heard  _nothing_. There wasn’t the familiar sound of sirens, or cars, or people beginning their days. He walked away from their building, starting to hope desperately that he’d see someone, just a single form of life. The fact that there weren’t even fucking pigeons or rats scurrying in the alleyways as he passed… That scared him.

He found a car with its door open and peaked into the empty vehicle. It was a nice car, so that it was left wide open was unusual to say the least. As he walked around to the driver’s side, he felt his eyes widen. His eyes caught the steering wheel, stained with something dark that he hoped against hopes was  _not_  blood. It seems his wishes weren’t being granted today as the dark red was dribbled over the creamy leather of the seats. There were smears along the edge of the car and when he looked closer, he saw scratch marks against the seat, as if someone had been dragged forcefully out of the car. The blood ran down the street, smears here and there and for what he felt had to be a stupid reason, he followed it like a trail.

When he passed a car, he saw someone. Their body was hunched over another and for a moment, he was about to call out and ask if they were okay, if they knew where everybody was. Suddenly, he realised that the blood trail lead  _there_  and he swallowed heavily, another wave of goosebumps breaking over his entire body. He inched closer and… god, his suspicions were confirmed. The person hunched over the body was  _eating_  it. He felt his hand fly to his mouth in shock and fell back a step.

The head snapped up, apparently hearing his gasp of horror. Blood covered the human, and it continued to chew, mouth wide open, as it looked up at Sebastian and fucking _grinned_.

Before he knew what he was doing, Sebastian was running as hard and as fast as he could back to the apartment building. He’d left his keys in the apartment, but he didn’t think to stand there and wait for Hunter to let him in. He just raced into the alleyway and jumped onto the dumpster and climbed back up the fire escape, heart racing frantically, mind filled with the image of someone resorting to cannibalism in the middle of a New York street.

Back in the apartment (how he got up there so fast, he didn’t know), he paced frantically, running his hands through his hair and wiping the sweat from his mouth. Fuck, where was Hunter? He had known something wasn’t right, what with all of the silence in the city, and he’d only seen one other living person but he had a feeling that wasn’t the last of what he’d see.

He was about to tear out of the apartment, in search of Hunter when Hunter all but ran back into the apartment, slamming the door behind him. He too was breathing heavily as he leaned back against it, and he stared at Sebastian with wide eyes. For the first time in the six years they’d known each other, he saw Hunter actually look off-balance, perhaps even a little afraid.

“Did you-,” Sebastian asked, voice shakier than he cared to think about.

“You too?” Hunter cut him off, jaw snapping shut with an audible click of the teeth. Sebastian nodded frantically. Hunter nodded once and shoved himself off of the door and moved into his room. Sebastian heard him rattling around in his room before he emerged again a minute later, tucking a handgun into his belt.

The fact that Hunter was getting his guns confirmed Sebastian’s worst fears; he’d seen something like Sebastian had.

“How many of those do you have?” Sebastian found himself asking incredulously.

Hunter just ignored him, shoved a collectors glock 17 at him. “Hold onto this for me, will you?” Sebastian grabbed the gun off Hunter, watching in bemusement as he shoved a several magazines into various pockets, handed a few to Sebastian to do the same.

“Are they dangerous?” Sebastian found himself asking.

“I don’t know about you, but front foyer is filled with a fucking hoard of people eating each other. My guess is that yes, they’re fucking dangerous, Smythe.”

Without another word or even look at Sebastian, Hunter moved down the hall, footsteps quieter than normal, pace brisk. He took the stairs one at a time, Sebastian following after him. The next hallway was empty as they moved up to their friends’ apartment, the one directly below theirs.

“You didn’t check in here?” Sebastian asked, giving Hunter a questioning look.

Hunter shook his head. “I just scouted the hallways. Here’s hoping it’s empty, hmm?”

Sebastian folded his arms impatiently across his chest, unable to keep his eyes in one place. He felt uneasy standing in the hallways, as if anyone could leap out at him, and take him by surprise. Hunter knocked on the door a few times.

Silence.

When the door didn’t open, Hunter tried the handle, rolling his eyes when it opened. God, their friends never remembered to lock their door. The amount of times Sebastian had walked into the apartment freely with the specific purpose of pulling pranks was beyond counting; he’d have thought that after some of the worse pranks, they’d have learned. Apparently not.

Hunter stopped. Mid eye-roll, Sebastian ran straight into him, face nearly colliding with the back of Hunter’s head.

“Hunter wh-,” Sebastian stopped dead, finally seeing what Hunter saw. “Holy fuck.” Sebastian breathed out, stomach roiling from the stench, the sounds, horrified with what he saw.

It was like something he’d seen in a horror movie, but definitely not something he’d ever thought he’d experience for himself. His friends, friends of at least three or four years, were crowded around James’ body, mouths attached to the skin, blood… blood everywhere. There was Joel, Sebastian’s personal favourite friends-with-benefit, sucking on James’s stomach, the slurping sound similar to that of when he went down on Sebastian. Mike was actually gnawing the meaty flesh of James’ thigh, Drew had a hold of his neck. Joel seemed to realise that somebody was in the room, and his head snapped up, red tongue swiping over his bloody teeth and mouth.

Another wave of horror rolled over Sebastian when he saw Joel’s eyes, pupils blown wide to the point that all he saw of what once bright blue eyes were black.

"Shit..." He heard Hunter breathe through his shock.

His word seemed to awaken the other two and their heads pulled away from there they were happily feasting to look up. Faster than Sebastian expected (and truthfully, he’d been hoping they were slow on their feet), they shot up to their feet, hands swiping roughly in front of them as they all but lunged in their direction.

Sebastian barely had a second to register this before out of the corner of his eye he saw Hunter's arm rise quickly, gun in his hand. The gun went off several times, heads literally exploding as Hunter got each of the boys in the head. It happened so quickly, barely thirty seconds passing from the second they opened the door to the sound of the bodies crumpling to the floor. Hunter stared down at the bodies for a second and then shot at James’ head, as if for good measure, maybe to put him out of his misery just in case they hadn't actually killed him. Given the enormous puddle of blood spreading across the wooden floor, Sebastian guessed that James was definitely dead.

The stench in the room was overwhelming, smelling strongly of copper and the animals he'd dissected in his biology classes. He hadn’t smelled human internal organs before, but now that nobody was attached to James, he could see bone, torn skin, muscle revealed, and... he wasn't sure what he saw in the abdominal region, but he was pretty sure those are definitely insides. Brains were splattered everywhere and... oh god, Hunter had just killed their friends! Fuck, their friends had been… Sebastian didn’t know what the fuck they were, but they’d been some kind of creature that fed on human flesh and blood.

He rounded on Hunter, who was staring at the pile of bodies with a blank expression. His arm had dropped, gun hanging loosely in his hand, and Sebastian knew Hunter well enough to see that his jaw was clenched impossibly tight. There was a roaring around Sebastian's ears, but he just found himself groaning: "What the fuck is going on…?”

“I have no fucking clue.” Hunter mumbled back, and Sebastian could hear tension, the panic in Hunter's voice for a second, but his face betrayed none of it. Hunter spun on his heel and headed to the door. "Come on, there’s a hoard of them in the front foyer, blocking the garage. We need to get your car and get the fuck out of here."

Sebastian followed wordlessly, still somewhat shocked. He didn't want Hunter to have the upper hand here, but... Sebastian had never seen so much blood in his life. Sebastian wasn't squeamish by any stretch of the imagination, but to say that had been extremely unsettling was to say the absolute least.

Hunter took another two flights of stairs and stopped again.

"You have got to stop doing that!" Sebastian yelled when they hit the bottom of the stairs and he nearly collided with Hunter and... Fuck. Hunter had said there was a hoard of them downstairs, but Sebastian was not prepared for what he saw.

More residents than he knew lived in the damn building were in the front hallway, literally tearing into bodies that Sebastian recognised, eating with a hunger like that of a starved animal. He heard Hunter swear, saw him remove the safety on his gun again and watched in horror as Hunter lined up shot after shot with his gun, progressively moving through the swarm of their peers, blowing heads off with a steady hand that that Sebastian was more than mildly impressed with. Occasionally some bullets missed, blasting through the walls, one destroying the glass of the front door, but for the most part, he shot true, picking the Creatures off quickly.

Apparently awoken by the sounds, the Creatures stood progressively, stumbling as they tripped over the bodies of their like and of their victims. Hunter frantically fumbled to get a magazine from his pocket, desperate to reload his gun and continue killing before the Creatures reached them and started tearing into them.

They both jumped when the door several feet from Hunter burst open behind him, several creatures bursting through, apparently summoned by the sounds of gunshots.

“Shit, shit, shit,” Hunter breathed, looking over at Sebastian frantically. “Give me the fucking gun, Smy-,”

Without thinking, Sebastian raised his arm, took aim and fired, one head, two heads, three… four. He felt blood splatter across his face from the close range, heard the sound of brain and skull exploding, saw the bodies drop in slow motion. Hunter stared between the dropped bodies and Sebastian, eyes wide. Quickly, Sebastian turned back to the approaching swarm, moving with the ease of humans once they were over the bodies, movements quicker than Sebastian cared for. He balanced himself, dropped his bag and took up his stance with a natural ease and quickly fired off his bullets, watching the Creatures drop like flies as bits of body flew.

Eventually, the only two left standing were Hunter and Sebastian. For several long minutes they stood there, hearing nothing beyond the dripping of blood in the hall and their own quiet, shallow breathing. Eventually, he heard Hunter sigh, his shoulders droop slightly. Sebastian let his own arms drop, falling uselessly to his side, fingers loose around the gun.

"You can shoot?" Hunter asked finally, eyes still darting between Sebastian and his victims, the corpses inches from their feet.

"Yes?" Sebastian said. How had they been friends for six years and Hunter not know that?

"You didn't think to fucking mention that?" Hunter cried incredulously.

"It didn't really come up," Sebastian pointed out. "You seemed quite trigger happy before."

"I can't fucking believe this..." Hunter said, hand going to his face and rubbing it, expression one of shock and exasperation. "You had a few seconds notice, and you shot, with perfect aim, at moving targets, at a few feet worth of range. You're a good, no,  _great_  shot, and you never thought that maybe you should let me know?”

Sebastian just shrugged. He peaked inside of the apartment and saw another body on the ground, chest heaving, sounds of pain sobbing from the pathetic excuse for a human being now. Sebastian exhaled heavily, closed his eyes and stepped into the room, shot the woman in the head. There was nothing else he could have done; at least she wasn’t suffering any more. He wiped his face with his hand, blood smearing on his hands. He wiped that on his jeans with a wrinkle of the nose. The smell of blood was overpowering and he felt sick to the stomach. He didn’t have time to be sick though. He didn’t have time to reflect on the fact that he’d just killed someone, or several someone’s.

He stepped out of the apartment, regarded Hunter with a small nod and Hunter cocked his head towards the exits.

Both in line, they stepped forward and as they walked, Sebastian thumbed the trigger of the gun gently. He'd seen enough zombie movies to know that just because you thought they were all dead didn't mean they actually were. He'd seen Hunter shoot each of them in the head and had made sure he’d done the same, a surefire way to kill a zombie but... given the situation, he figured he was allowed to feel at least partial discomfort. (Yes, that was an understatement, but he honestly felt like he was observing things through a glass wall. The world seemed very far away, like he was listening through noise-cancelling headphones. He didn't feel a thing just... an odd sense of calm.)

"What the fuck is going on...?" Hunter breathed eventually when they reached the edges of the pile, voice hushed, confused and horrified.

"I have no fucking idea," Sebastian responded quietly. "But I have a feeling that we should get out of here."

"Real fucking bright, aren't you? Still can’t believe you got into Columbia Law without having to suck anyone’s dick…" Hunter muttered, quickly changing the magazines in both of his glocks before eyeing the door with disdain. "Surely this is a health and safety risk, having the only way out through this hallway..." They both knew they'd have to climb the mountain of students blocking the hallway to get through the front door and down into the car park to Sebastian's car.

"Mmm, fresh slaughter on my shoes; just what I like in the morning."

Hunter carefully navigated his way across the bodies, the sound of his feet over them squelching and cracking unpleasantly. Sebastian made a mental note to be sick later, once they were in the clear. He eyed the mound and then with a slow inhale through the nose, the tang of scorched and torn flesh rushing through his senses, a hand on the bloody wall (oh god, was that brain matter he was touching? Fuck, that was brain matter. Yes, he was definitely going to be sick later) he waded through the bodies, jaw clenched. The feeling of flesh giving under his feet was one he hoped he'd never have to experience again. He cautioned a look upwards at Hunter, who stood beside a half-open apartment door, arms folded across his chest as he waited with clear impatience for Sebastian to get through. He saw Hunter look through the door, checking that no further creatures were lurking inside, preparing to shock them both.

Sebastian shrugged, finally making his way past what he deemed officially the Red Sea 2.0.

"C'mon, soldier. We have got to get the fuck out of here." He rummaged around in his pockets for his keys and stepped towards the underground carparks door.

It was 5am, so of course traffic couldn't be expected to be bad, but as they drove down the highway towards Baltimore, Sebastian couldn't help but notice how damn empty the roads were. Cars lay abandoned on the roads, but they seemed to be the only ones actually moving, not deciding to start feasting on the nearest human. As they'd driven through the almost empty streets of New York City, they'd passed more of the Creatures, tearing into other humans. The fact that they were doing it in the street, that it was everywhere Sebastian drove, did not bode well for him. Why wasn't anybody stopping it? For a moment, he wondered where the police were, until he saw several cops tearing into a young man. His blood ran cold at the sight, but neither he nor Hunter suggested once that they should stop or even slow down.

Only once they were well out of the city limits of New York and heading into the countryside did either of them speak. They'd spoken briefly as they'd climbed into Sebastian's Lexus in the garage, only deciding to head to Baltimore, where Sebastian's father (and stepmother and stepbrother) lived. They weren't sure why they felt it'd be safer there, but again, they only had movies to go on, and were hoping that whatever had struck the citizens of New York City hadn't extended much further.

The car was dead silent as they drove; they'd tried to turn on the radio, desperate for any news or reassurance, but every station had been a mix of angry static, or in some cases, pure silence. After that struggle, Hunter had simply flicked the radio off, letting them drive in a wordless daze.

Even the highways were empty. Sebastian had never experienced such a thing before. There wasn't a car in sight, coming in or out of the city. On the remote country road, there wasn't any movement in sight, not even Creatures.

Frankly, he was terrified. Sebastian had never been one to believe in anything like zombie movies, sci fi, or fantasy. The fact that something he'd seen all too frequently on his television screen seemed to be happening in real life left him with a tight knot in the stomach and fear constricting his throat. This just couldn’t be real.

He hazarded a glance over at Hunter, who sat perfectly still, his hands settled neatly over one of his glocks, eyes on the road in front of them. His expression was still blank, and honestly, it bothered Sebastian a little. Shouldn't he be looking bothered or upset or worried or fucking terrified or any of the emotions Sebastian was feeling? That said, Sebastian knew that his own face was blank, so... perhaps Hunter was going through the same mental panic he was.

Three hours passed in silence, Sebastian speeding at times to make the trip far shorter. He just had to get to his father, just had to find out things were okay. He wasn’t close to his father by any stretch of the imagination, but there was still a bond of family between them. As they approached Baltimore, however, Sebastian felt his heart sink. He saw Creatures in the streets, tearing not only into humans but animals. Fuck.

He saw Hunter swallow heavily, but neither said a word.

They reached the Smythe household, and as they approached the driveway, Sebastian's heart sank. His stepbrother, Angelo, a boy of barely seven was on the front lawn, mouth over his pet dog. The dog, Jimmy, wore his white curls now matted with blood. Sebastian saw no life to his old friend, just Angelo's tiny fingers digging through the fur as he chewed through the body of the dog. Sebastian parked the car slowly, got out wordlessly.

"Is that anyone you know?" Hunter asked with surprising softness, watching as Sebastian shut the door quietly, walked several feet towards the child.

The gunshot rang though the quiet suburban street. Angelo only gave a soft cry; he hadn't even noticed Sebastian stand ten feet in front of him. His body slumped forward across Jimmy.

"That was my brother." Sebastian said, feeling a coldness settle over him that he'd never thought he'd feel before. He wasn't sure it'd ever disappear.

He knew what would be in the house, but he forced himself inside. The key sounded loud against the silence, the deadlock sliding home. He knew where he'd find them. His father was feasting on his stepmother in the main bedroom, her blonde hair spilling over the previously white bedspread, the creamy white bedroom stained with red. Sebastian was treated to a look in his father's dilated, black eyes before he shot once, twice, three, four, five, six, seven…

"Stop wasting ammo, you asshole!" Hunter snapped, hand grasping Sebastian's wrist. The bullet went through the ceiling as he was jerked mid-shot. Sebastian stopped. Hunter shot Sebastian's stepmother in the head and pushed Sebastian back out of the bedroom, closing the door softly behind them.

"Your father?" Hunter asked. Sebastian could feel him searching to meet Sebastian's eyes, but Sebastian shut his, as if trying to block the entire world out. It didn't work. He yanked his hand free of Hunter's grip, walked across the landing to where his bedroom lay. He walked past his bed, into the en suite bathroom. He went to shut the door, but Hunter's hand caught it.

"Give me the gun, Smythe." Hunter growled. "If you're going to kill yourself, you're not doing it with my ammo. You've wasted enough as it is."

Sebastian wordlessly handed over the gun, shut the door with a finite click, and locked it behind him. Hunter didn't need to see this. He blankly registered Hunter looked mildly shocked that he did give him the gun, but Sebastian was too busy dropping to his knees beside the toilet. Pain flickered on in his knees, not liking the sudden drop to the tiled floor.

Thank god his stepmother kept the bathroom clean, he thought through his daze as he threw up violently in the toilet. He felt the coffee revisit, the water Hunter had made him sip in the car. Bile followed. His throat burned, his nose and eyes ran, and he told himself it was simply from the regurgitation. He didn't know how long he knelt there, dry retching, bile coming up occasionally, and heaving some more. He stayed there, kneeling long after the heaves passed, head in his hands, elbows resting on the toilet seat, fingers trapped in his sweaty mop of hair.

The door opened, but he didn’t have the energy nor the will to look up.

“I locked that for a reason,” Sebastian said dully. He knew how easy the en suite locks were to pick; he’d learned before the age of five. It only required something strong and flat, like a credit card, or a knife.

“You’ve been in here for nearly an hour.” Hunter pointed out, as if that explained everything. He saw Hunter’s feet enter his line of vision, and then Hunter pressed the button, flushing. Sebastian watched the toilet clean, almost fascinated, before sitting back on his haunches. He finally looked up at Hunter, head spinning slightly from the movement.  

“Drink.” Hunter ordered, handing over a blue Powerade.

Sebastian took the cool drink, knowing Hunter must have raided it from the refrigerator. “Thanks for not making it red,” he commented, taking a sip.

Hunter grimaced. “Yeah, I couldn’t stomach the thought of it either.” After several mouthfuls of a drink Sebastian had never truly appreciated until then, Hunter held out a hand. “C’mon, at least get off the floor.” Sebastian put his hand into Hunter’s cool one and allowed himself be helped off of the floor.

He walked out of the bathroom into his old bedroom, sat on the edge of the bed.  Hunter followed after him, bare feet silent against the carpet. He stood in front of Sebastian, arms folded across his chest.

“Are you up to talking?” Hunter asked him, voice impassive.

Sebastian rolled his eyes. “Go ahead.” He wanted nothing more than to curl up in his bed, sob for the loss of a father he’d never been close to, his stepfamily he’d seen once a year for the past ten, just the week before Christmas, to mourn the loss of his friends, and to let his mind realise that… somehow, whilst he’d slept, the world as he knew it had changed forever. He didn’t know how or why he and Hunter were still okay, and how long that would last. But he needed to sleep, needed to stop and truly let himself absorb it. Despite that, he nodded at Hunter to speak.

“I don’t know where the fuck we’re going to go, or how the fuck we’re going to manage, or  _what the fuck_  is going on… But… we’ve got to find a way to survive. Well, I do. Frankly, we both stand a better chance of surviving if we stick together for now. You’re not completely useless, and you could definitely use my help. There’s a military surplus store not far from here, and I think I saw a Costco on the way in.”

“Military surplus?”

“If we’re going to survive, that’s the way to go. We don’t know what’s out there so… best be prepared for everything.”

Sebastian nodded. Hunter looked him up and down and said. “You should shower. It’ll help.”

“Oh, because you’re such an expert on killing people.” Sebastian snapped.

Hunter sighed. “You know I’m not. But until I went to Dalton, I spent my entire life in military schools. You know I know how to handle these things. Go shower. You’re covered in blood. Take a nap. I’ll bring you something to eat. Then, we go hunting.”

Despite his protests, Sebastian did manage to fall asleep, but woke an hour later in a cold sweat, heart racing in a panic. He sipped more of the water Hunter had left him, but found he couldn’t stomach the thought of food. He wandered downstairs to find Hunter poring over a large map of the USA, expression creased into a frown.

“You’re up sooner than I expected,” Hunter commented, not looking up as Sebastian walked into the large, open living area.

Sebastian shrugged, not saying anything on the matter. “What are you doing?”

“Trying to establish our course of action. The phone lines are down completely, and I’m not holding much hope for the power to last much longer.”

“Maman lives in Columbus.” Sebastian said.

“My parents live in Denver.”  Hunter picked up a red pen and put a small neat cross on Columbus and Denver. “Well, I suppose that’s one way of doing it. And by the time we confirm their safety, hopefully things will have sorted themselves out.”

“Are we getting ahead of ourselves by rushing off to see them? We’re kind of going in blind here. We have no idea what the fuck is happening.”

“No,” Hunter said shortly. “Either we go and establish that our remaining family members are safe and take shelter with them. Or we go and discover the country is fucked, in which case we’d do well in escaping.”

Sebastian bit the inside of his cheek, leaned over the coffee table to get a better look at the map. “It’s about a seven hour drive from here to Columbus. What’s the time now?”

“Nearly midday. But we’ve still got to go to the surplus store, get ourselves prepared. You fine to wait until tomorrow?”

Sebastian nodded, rubbing a hand over his eyes. “No creature things going to break in?”

Hunter shook his head. “Your house has good security. Assuming they can’t break glass, and I’m not sure whether they can or can’t, the house is entirely secure.”

Sebastian found himself looking at the ceiling, as if to see through the floor into his father’s bedroom. He found himself wondering for the millionth time what had created them, what had made them become so primal and animalistic, and worse, had turned normal humans into cannibalistic killers. And what was stopping Hunter and him from becoming them soon? They had no idea what the hell was happening, how to stop it, how to stop themselves from getting it. Would he wake up the next morning as one of them?

He sat down on the couch heavily. “This is so fucked up. And I’ve seen Human Centipede.”

Hunter made an absent sound of agreement, sitting up to lean his elbows on his knees. He capped the pen and grimaced. He seemed to be hesitating when Sebastian spared him a look. “I’m… sorry about your family.” He was visibly struggling with the words, clearly not used to being anything but callous, cool, or charming.

With a shrug and a wave of the hand, Sebastian closed his eyes. “Whatever. He never liked me much anyway.”

“He was still your father.”

Again, another shrug. Honestly, Hunter was right. He knew his father hadn’t liked him that much, and he hadn’t been all that keen on his stepfamily but… it still hurt somewhat to know that his father had died at his own hands, that he’d killed his little brother without issue.

Eventually, Hunter sighed and put his pen down, pushing himself to his feet. "Alright, well, if you're not going to mope and cry, we have shit to do. I want to head to Columbus tomorrow. How far can your car get on a tank?"

Sebastian shrugged. "Full tank can easily get to Columbus. Why?"

"Just don't want to have to stop. Go get the keys to your fathers car."

"Why?"

"We're going to use it to get to the surplus store and stock up. No point in walking and risking more Creatures."

Sebastian nodded and got off the couch himself, walking into the kitchen. The keys were always kept on top of the refrigerator. He grabbed them off the top and cocked his head at Hunter to indicate where the garage door was.

"C'mon soldier." He called, effectively cutting all of the emotions he was feeling down. He opened the car, rubbing his hands over the smooth leather of the steering wheel. God, he loved this Porsche. His Lexus was nothing in comparison to the Porsche, and the few times he'd driven it were some of his best memories. He supposed now, with his father gone, he didn't have to worry about scratching the paint.

"Fuck, your dad has a Porsche?" Hunter asked, sliding into the car, face visibly impressed. "I vote we take this car to Columbus instead..."

Sebastian shook his head, smiling despite himself. "It's thirsty. Wouldn't get us halfway." He paused. "Probably less with the way I drive."

Hunter rolls his eyes. "I noticed you had a lead foot." He bit his lip. "Can I drive it?"

"Can you drive stick?"

"Duh."

"Can you even drive? I've never seen you drive."

"Of course I can drive, you dipshit."

"Now now, be nice to the boy with the Porsche or you'll be staying in that passenger seat."

Hunter glared at him and crossed his arms. "Fine."

Sebastian couldn't stop himself from laughing. "I don't think I've ever seen you concede so quickly."

Hunter continued to glare. "Just fucking drive, Smythe."

Sebastian grinned and slid the gear easily into gear, backing out easily. God, it was such a smooth ride. "Alright. You'll have to direct me because, believe it or not, I'm not familiar with the local surplus stores."

Hunter nodded.

As they drove through Baltimore, the eeriness settled over them again, the dead silence and stillness around them creepy to say the absolute least. Occasionally they drove past Creatures feasting on others.

"What the fuck created these things...?" Hunter asked, voice soft and confused.

Sebastian shrugged from his seat. "Dunno. But here's hoping it's not contagious, because I really am not keen on tasting blood."

"Not a fan of blood?"

"Not a fan of cannibalism."

Hunter directed him easily, not even referring to the map once. This surprised Sebastian, but he knew he shouldn't be. He knew Hunter was able to memorise locations and directions with great ease, had seen him do so on many occasions.

They pulled up into the empty carpark of the local Military Surplus store, Sebastian parking easily between the lines, even though, in theory, he didn't have to obey a single law. After all, it had appeared that whatever was going around had affected the local cops as well.

Hunter walked up to the door, assessing the glass. It was locked, but that was no surprised to either of them.

Sebastian glanced down at the lock and grinned, recognising the lock. "Oh, I can pick this." He didn't have any picks on him, but it was a relatively simple lock. He was quite surprised to find that the store had such a simple lock, but he wasn't going to complain.

Hunter stared at him, shock visible on his face for the third time that day. "You... can pick locks?"

Sebastian rolled his eyes. "Of course."

"Do I want to know?"

"Probably not." He went back to his father's car and searched around in the backseat for his toolbox, grateful that his father was the kind of person who believed in always being prepared. He withdrew a few safety pins and a slim bit of wire and went back to the door, settling on his knees in front of the lock.

Several minutes later, Hunter rolled his eyes. "Geeze. What's taking so long? Can you pick it or not?"

Sebastian nodded. "It's not like in the fucking movies, Hunt. And I don't exactly sit around studying locks. Give me another minute or two." He fiddled around for a little longer and then the lock slid home. "Voila."

"You're going to tell me why you know how to do that one day."

Sebastian grinned, some of the tension he'd been feeling in his chest easing. "Maybe. Maybe not."

When the door opened, no alarm went off, but Sebastian spotted an alarm system just beside the door. It was flashing that it was on.

"Huh. Silent alarm. Lucky for us, I guess." Hunter strode into the store like he owned it, but Sebastian supposed that wasn't new for Hunter. Hunter always walked around like he owned the place. Sebastian slid his hands into his pockets, leaving the pins by the door. He had a small set of lockpicks in his bedroom, proper ones, and he made a mental note to pack them to take with them.

"Unless there are non-Creatures around. Do we really want to piss off people who run a Military Surplus store?"

Hunter started perusing the aisles whilst Sebastian locked the door behind them, just in case any Creatures discovered their whereabouts. He walked around the store as if he knew it well, grabbed a backpack and started investigating it. He frowned, tossed it aside, and grabbed another. Sebastian watched as he sorted through the bags until he found one that suited his needs. He tossed it at Sebastian.

"It's a backpack." Sebastian told him.

"Congratulations." Hunter deadpanned, grabbing a similar one he'd discarded to the side.

"Backpacks aren't sexy." Sebastian told him with a wrinkle to the forehead.

"Being dead isn't sexy either, and neither is bitching about your shoulders and back. Take the backpack, Smythe." Hunter snarked back, shouldering the empty pack and walking into the next aisle.

Sebastian rolled his eyes and followed after, trusting Hunter knew what they'd need. As they walked, Hunter started tossing things at Sebastian, grabbing his own as he went. Flashlight, batteries, a first aid kit (smart choice, Sebastian wouldn't have thought of that, he realised), some lighters, some weird packs that Hunter informed him were hydration packs, water purifiers and... After that, Sebastian lost track. He just held open his bag for Hunter to toss things into. Blankets, sleeping bags, socks, underwear ("How do you know the size of my underwear?" "Lucky guess."), thermals.

"Can I at least try the clothing on?" Sebastian whined when they got to the clothing last.

"Fine. But be sensible. Three sets of pants, shirts for the hot weather, couple of jackets because it's still cold."

"Fine, fine, gee. You're such a killjoy." Sebastian muttered. He didn't want to dress like a fucking princess, but he wasn't going to wear pants that literally fell off of him, which is what Hunter had thrown at him initially, not even looking at the sizes. If he was going to do this, he was at least going to look his usual sexy-ass self.

"It's called motherfucking sensibility. In case you haven't realised, but things are fucking serious out there. It's not a fashion show; it's about surviving."

"Whatever..." Sebastian huffed, searching through the pants for some more his size. He pulled a few out in blue and khaki. As he slipped them on, he suddenly understood the appeal. Sure, they didn't show off his slim legs the way his skinny jeans usually did, but they were roomy. Oh, and they made his ass look fantastic. And the pockets! They had so many pockets!

He discarded his Ralph Lauren polo with a sigh, knowing he probably wouldn't need it again and slid a white t-shirt on. He smirked at himself in the mirror, knowing he looked good and walked out of the backroom where he’d changed, back out into the store in bare feet.

Hunter raised his eyebrows as Sebastian smiled saucily and did a spin. "I think they do fantastic things for my ass."

Hunter stared at him, looking unimpressed. "Change the shirt to black. Less chance of visible blood stains. And dirt."

Sebastian rolled his eyes and yanked the shirt over his head, dropping it to the ground as he tore open a packet containing a black shirt. He slid that on, holding out his arms as if to ask Hunter if he was happy. Hunter nodded, pursing his lips.

"I suppose it'll do."

Sebastian grinned, knowing that was the closest he'd get to a compliment out of Hunter. "Oh please, you know I look fucking hot in these."

"Mmm," Hunter hummed, turning back to his own clothing. From what Sebastian could see he'd grabbed some black shirts and khaki pants, as well as several outer layers in jackets, a parka and overshirts. When Sebastian bitched about Hunter getting more clothing, Hunter coldly informed him that the extra layers were for  _Sebastian_ ; Hunter was just carrying them because he could take a heavier bag.

Hunter showed Sebastian how to pack his bag after Sebastian's first attempt left him unable to fit everything. When Hunter was done, there was still a great deal of room. Damnit, Sebastian had to admit that he really knew what he was doing when it came to these things. When he asked about grabbing more things, Hunter shook his head and reminded him they still needed to get themselves ration packs and make a trip to the local gun shop, conveniently located on the same street.

Sebastian broke them into the gun store, where they both headed for the handguns.

“Here, take this.” Hunter said, sliding another handgun for Sebastian.

Sebastian snorted. “Oh please, what do you take me for?” He ignored the weapon in Hunter’s hand and looked through the handgun cabinet, picking up a few, feeling their weight in his hands. He examined some thoroughly before choosing two, a glock similar to Hunter’s and a Smith & Wesson 59, something he had a personal preference for. It wasn’t his personal favourite, but he knew between the glock and this, he’d have a ready supply of ammo in most locations they came across. He grabbed several boxes of ammo, placing them neatly in his backpack and turned back to Hunter.

“You any good with a semi or rifle?”

Sebastian rolled his eyes. “Yes, Hunter, I know how to shoot. I’ve been shooting since I was seven and stole my father’s gun.”

“Can never be too careful with you, Smythe.” He walked to the back wall of the store and grabbed an AR-15, and tossed it over to Sebastian. “That work?”

“Stop picking my weapons for me, but yes.” Sebastian found himself snarling, somewhat sick of Hunter doubting his abilities. He was no soldier but he knew his guns.

“It’s a common gun; finding ammo will be easier.”

“My thoughts exactly.”

Sebastian grabbed them both cases whilst Hunter grabbed some gun holsters, which they both slung on, fixing their weapons to their bodies. Hunter grabbed some knives and strapped them to his wrists and thighs.

When he handed two to Sebastian, he shook his head. “That’s one of the few things I can’t do.”

“Never hurts to have a knife on you.”

He sighed and attached them to his belt and then looked over at Hunter, grinning. “We look kind of awesome.” He pointed out, looking in the reflection of the store window and admiring himself. Frankly, he felt they looked badass, decked in their military gear and guns, looking like something from a movie. It helped that he was dashingly handsome and Hunter was far too attractive in uniform to even be legal.

“Yeah,” Hunter smirked, and Sebastian swore for a moment that Hunter was actually checking him out, his eyes lingering along Sebastian’s body. “We do.”


	2. Chapter 2

_Day 2._

At dawn, Sebastian was shaken awake by Hunter.

“Fuck off…” Sebastian groaned, wondering what the fuck Hunter was doing in his room.

“Get up, Smythe.”

“No. Don’t wanna. It’s cold.” Sebastian protested, burying his head in his pillows and curling himself up in his blankets tighter.

“Well, toughen the fuck up.” Hunter said, apparently having gotten a suitable grip on the blankets and yanking them away from Sebastian’s body.

Sebastian sat up, desperate to get the blankets back and stopped, realising he wasn’t in his room back in New York, but his room at his father’s house in Baltimore. Oh.

Sebastian had always found it horribly clichéd in the novels he read that people were able to fall asleep and wake up the next morning forgetting that anything had happened the night before, but apparently it wasn't as clichéd as he’d formerly suspected. Over the course of the night, he'd somehow forgotten the horrors of the day before, seeing his friends die in front of him, seeing  people he knew for years suddenly become monsters that ate other humans, seeing his father eating his stepmother, killing his little brother. He'd slept dreamlessly, and before he'd opened his eyes he'd still believed himself to be back in New York.

He closed his eyes again, burying his head in his pillow before giving a heavy groan. "It's not too much to ask that this isn't some fucking nightmare, is it?"

He heard Hunter snort beside him. "You fucking wish. I made the mistake of trying to explore out this morning; there are more of them."

Sebastian opened his eyes and looked up at Hunter with weary eyes. Hunter seemed wide awake, but Hunter had always been an annoying morning person, sometimes waking up as Sebastian crawled into bed.

"What do you think caused it? And why did it come on so fast? We literally went to bed one night and things were fine and woke up the next day to chaos. I thought when zombie viruses broke out, they'd at least take a little longer."

Hunter shrugged, folding his arms across his chest and looking impatient. "You need to stop relying on movies, Bas." Hunter sighed, surprising Sebastian with his use of the nickname.

"Well, what the fuck else do you have to go on?" Sebastian argued, frowning up at him from his spot on the bed.

"I don't think they're zombies," Hunter replied shortly, walking over to Sebastian's large bay windows.

"Oh?"

"Zombies... by definition are undead. These seem to be living people, but something is wrong with them. It's like the moral centre has been removed from their brains. They move at human speeds, but don't seem to possess human brain function. They can't seem to work out how to open doors, not yet. They don't seem capable of smelling us out either. They don't move faster or slower than an average human. And they still have human colour, meaning they still have blood. When we shot them, they sprayed blood like a human would. If they were undead, blood wouldn't be running through them. It's... really like someone removed parts of their brain and set them out into the world again."

Sebastian frowned. "You studied them from a distance?"

Hunter nodded. "They didn't even hear me until I shot one of them, and only then did they turn around and start moving towards me. And they... they moved like humans. I'm not going to call them zombies, not when they're not actually dead."

Sebastian rubbed a hand over his face. "It's far too early in the morning for this kind of thinking?"

"Well, get used to it. Who knows how long we'll be on the move for?"

Sebastian jerked his hands away from his face. "Huh?"

"It's spread, Smythe. It's not just here and New York."

"How do you know?" Sebastian asked, genuinely curious.

"There isn't a functioning radio station around. No television stations are working. There is nothing. The news online hasn't been updated in two days. Nothing has come in or out of the USA in two days. There is no way that could happen unless it's spread all over the country, possibly further. Some parts of Canada and Mexico are in the dark too, it would seem."

Sebastian swore. "It seems you've been doing your research."

Hunter nodded. "Duh. Now get the fuck up. I want to get to Columbus sooner rather than later."

With a heavy sigh, Sebastian pushed himself out of the bed, wrapping a blanket around him as he went. It was cold, and until he had some coffee, he wasn't going to remove said blanket. He didn't say it, but he really hoped Hunter was wrong. It was rare for Hunter to be wrong, didn't happen all that often, but... if there was ever a time that he wanted him to be wrong, now was it.

A thought rattled through him; his mother. Sebastian wasn't close to his father, not by any stretch of the imagination, but his mother had raised him, she was... well, his mother. He didn't love many people, but he loved his mother. She was intelligent, smarter than most people he knew (not that that was hard); assuming she wasn't infected, she'd have been smart enough to get out of Columbus, right? Until they found out what caused the infection, or whatever the fuck was going around though, he couldn't count on her safety. Hell, he couldn't count on his or Hunter's either. What the fuck was going around? What had caused it, and why didn't he and Hunter have any symptoms whatsoever, or at least, symptoms that they were aware of?

Downstairs, Sebastian went to flick the coffee machine on. He stared into space for several long minutes, waiting for it to prepare his drink before he realised the kitchen was dead silent. He looked over at the coffee machine with a look of horror. He jerked behind the machine, checked it was plugged in. Yes, switched on. But… nothing. He moved to the lights, flicked them back and forth. Nothing. The fridge made no sound.

“Son of a cunt!” Sebastian swore.

“What?” He heard Hunter call through the house.

“There is no power! No power means no coffee machine! Have you  _seen_  me without coffee?”

“Smythe, you’re annoying as fuck at all times, regardless of caffeine intake. Quit your bitching.” He strolled into the kitchen and flicked the lights. “Sure it’s not just an earthing switch?” He walked into the pantry and fiddled with the little box inside. “Nope. You’ve lost power. Not a surprise, given nobody is running the power plants. It’s a safety measure.”

“So, what you’re saying is… There is no coffee.”

Hunter gave a long-suffering sigh. “There is no coffee.”

Sebastian was unable to stop himself from freezing and deadpanning: “I think I’d rather get eaten.”

“Stop being so melodramatic. You could always boil some water on the fireplace and make instant.”

“I think you should get eaten for suggesting such an awful thing.”

“Again with the melodrama. Get over it. People are dying.”

“I die without coffee.”

“Well it’s nice to know it’ll be easy to get rid of you then.” Hunter snapped. He tossed a cigarette lighter at Sebastian. “Light a fire and boil water like people did before electricity.”

Sebastian stared down at the cigarette lighter with wide eyes, chewing his lip, before snatching it up. He could deal with instant coffee, if he had to. He grabbed some papers scattered over the kitchen bench and crunched them up and then lit the papers, quickly dashing to find a mug and fill it with water. By the time he got back to the pile, the paper had burned out.

“Fuck.” He muttered, walking into the living room. He found some newspapers and jogged back into the kitchen, lighting the folded paper. It burned for a few seconds before burning itself out, leaving an acrid smell in the air. He glared at the paper, wondering if his glare could literally light things on fire. Several seconds later revealed that it was not as such.

“What the fuck are you doing?” Hunter asked, walking back into the kitchen, his backpack slung over his shoulder.

“Fire.” Sebastian pointed out.

Hunter’s hand flew to his face and collided with a resounding  _smack_. “Are you stupid?”

“ _Some_  of us have never lit a fire before.” Sebastian pointed out, annoyed.

“Firstly, fireplace. Secondly… Oh geeze, just let me fucking do it.” Hunter sighed, grabbing the lighter and the paper from the bench. He stalked into the living room where the fireplace was, tossing crushed up pieces of newspaper into the fireplace, grabbing some kindling from the pile of wood stacked neatly by the fire.

Eventually, Hunter had a small fire going, crackling happily in the fireplace.

"You're fucking useless." Hunter muttered, walking past Sebastian to get something to boil water in. Luckily, he'd stolen something the day before that could be used over a fire, so he filled that with just enough water for two coffees, and set it over the fire.

Sebastian glared at the fire and at Hunter and sat beside it, allowing himself to get warmed by the heat exuding from it. He should have realised earlier that there was no power; the house was damn cold thanks to the lack of heating. Beside the fire, he dressed himself, tugging on the military clothing he'd chosen the day before, giving his own clothing a forlorn look. No more skinny jeans, or fitted tees, no more pea coats or classy leather shoes until god knew how long. It could be days, it could be months.

Hunter was saying they weren't zombies, but it felt enough like a zombie apocalypse that Sebastian was going to think of it as one until proven otherwise. And if it were some kind of zombie apocalypse, they'd be on the run for ages, until they found safety or a cure was found, or both. He and Hunter weren't stupid. Sebastian didn't know how to light a fire, but he wasn't going to walk into a swarm of zombies, and if necessary, he wouldn't mind stabbing Hunter in the back. But for now, together, they stood the best chance of survival. Without Hunter, Sebastian wouldn't have known the first things to grab, and without Sebastian, Hunter wouldn’t have a clue on how to break into things or hotwire cars. Together, they would somehow survive. They wouldn't go charging into stupid situations; they both had extremely high self-preservation instincts and liked themselves far too much to endanger themselves needlessly.

As it was, they might be on the run for months though, and Sebastian was going to be stuck in less flattering clothing than he normally wore. Not that it mattered; he'd be running around with Hunter of all people, someone who'd seen him hugging the toilet during hangovers, sick with flus and fevers, and worse... in study-period disarray, his hair unwashed, eyes swollen from lack of sleep and skin grey from lack of sun. It didn't matter if Hunter saw him at his worst, because he'd seen Hunter in similar states, and... It was Hunter. He may have sent a line at Hunter every second week and Hunter may have had a body he really wanted to lick all over but... He wasn't worried about looking bad for Hunter. He just liked to look good.

He sighed, lacing up the hiking boots they'd grabbed the day before. They hadn't gone with military boots in the end, deciding they were too heavy if they were going to be doing any length of walking. They were still a great deal heavier than his usual shoes, but he supposed he could deal with these. Besides, they may not have been his skinny jeans, but... he did rock the military look, if he did say so himself. He'd have to remember, when they survived this, he had to have sex wearing only his black leather boots.

When he looked at the water, he was pleased to see it had nearly boiled, so he moved into the kitchen to get two mugs and spooned in some instant coffee (oh god, he was going to have to get used to drinking instant, wasn't he? Fuck. Maybe he really should give himself over to the Creatures...) before returning to the fire. Hunter joined him shortly afterwards, sitting cross-legged beside him, staring into the flames.

"Do you want to bury your dad or brother?" Hunter asked just as the sun started poking through the windows, banishing the pinkish dawn.

Sebastian shook his head. "No point, really."

"Some might say it's a respect thing."

"Have you ever known me to respect anyone?"

Hunter hummed, but it sounded like he was agreeing with Sebastian, rather than disagreeing with him.

Sebastian sighed. "Do you want me to want to bury them?"

"Do what you want. If we don't, we can get out of here sooner, find your mom, and then find my folks sooner."

"Then let's finish the coffee and go."

Hunter took another mouthful of the coffee and tipped the remaining dregs of his drink over the little fire, extinguishing it in a quiet hiss. "Make sure you go to the bathroom before we leave."

"Yes mother..." Sebastian muttered, draining his drink.

"Yes, sir," Hunter corrected, shouldering his bag and stalking out towards the garage.

Sebastian wandered through the house for another minute, almost saying goodbye to it. He didn't look into his father's room, or his brother's room, where he knew Hunter had put his little brother and his dog. He didn't need to see that again. Instead, he pulled a photo frame off of the walls, one that had been taken two Christmases ago. It was a cheesy Christmas photo, full of forced smiles, but... it was better than nothing. He broke the frame, not having the patience to get it open properly, and eased the photo out from amongst the broken glass. He folded it roughly and slid it into his back pocket. It was all he needed to take anyway.

He let Hunter have the first half of the journey, having learned yesterday that he loved driving, and driving fast. He'd never taken Hunter as a joyrider, but when he'd let him drive the Porsche the previous afternoon, he'd smiled and laughed in a way that Sebastian had never seen before. Hunter, despite all intended appearances, wasn't a total killjoy. Hell, Sebastian had known him since high school, had been drunk with him on more occasions than he could count, had pulled pranks with him, watched awful movies together with him.

He knew Hunter wasn't as stoic or serious as he often tried to impress upon others. But the laugh and smile he'd seen yesterday was something new entirely. Sebastian had pointed out the life and death situation, and shouldn't he, as Hunter Clarington, be more serious, but Hunter had just grinned as he slid around another corner saying that it was his first and probably last ever chance to drive a Porsche on empty streets, and he was going to enjoy the fuck out of it. Sebastian wasn't going to argue, and simply buckled his seat belt.

Despite his morning coffee, Sebastian actually fell asleep head cushioned poorly by the glass window, lulled by Hunter's driving and the smooth manner in which his Lexus tackled the highways. He woke up nearly five hours later somehow, surprised to see they were barely an hour from Columbus.

"Why didn't you wake me?" Sebastian grumbled, blinking blearily over at Hunter, who had one window open, wind blowing through his hair madly.

Hunter shrugged. "Something about you looking like you needed the sleep and also not wanting to listen to your bitching. Also... I don't mind driving." He paused, looking down at the dash. "I can see why you like this car. Drives beautifully."

Sebastian nodded, smiling sleepily. He rubbed his neck, wondering what stupidity had compelled him to sleep against a window, and stared outside.

"Seen anything interesting out?"

"No. Which is the problem, isn't it? There's nobody around. No cars on the road. Nothing." Hunter sighed. "How can humanity fall so fucking fast overnight? Shouldn't there be fires burning or... something?"

"And you say I'm the one who watches too many zombie movies."

"It just makes no sense, that's all I'm saying."

Sebastian shrugged. "No use questioning it, is there? The important questions now are how the fuck we survive, and how far it's spread." He paused. "I really hope we don't have to become Amish or something. Because I am not down with giving up my sex life."

"Sebastian, there is nobody for you to have a sex life with."

"There's you," Sebastian pointed out with a tease.

Hunter rolled his eyes. "Keep dreaming."

"Who knows? We might get desperate enough to go down that path."

"I doubt it." Hunter chuckled, running a hand through his hair, fingers getting caught in the wind-created tangles. Sebastian was tempted to run his own hands through the strands, mostly because it was so rare to see Hunter’s hair look anything less than perfect, and it was almost a question of whether the hair was real or not now.

They drove in silence for a bit longer before Hunter commented “Punch the address into the GPS?”

“I’m right here. You don’t need to use it. Besides, will it work?”

Hunter shrugged. “I guess you’ve got a point.”

Sebastian tried his GPS just for good measure, but wasn’t surprised when no location could be found. He sighed and put it back in the glove box. He’d direct Hunter easily anyway.

“Where does your mom live anyway?” Hunter asked.

“Edge of town. She didn’t really like living where there was a lot of traffic.”

“The more I hear of your mom, the more I think she’s a bit of a hippy.” Hunter said with a smile.

“She’s definitely not a hippy.”

“Whatever, Smythe.”

Getting to Sebastian’s mothers home was an easy task. Sebastian knew the way practically in his sleep, and with no traffic, there were no incidents. Being further out of town, they also didn’t come across any Creatures, instead riding along the tree-lined streets as if it were just an extremely quiet day in spring.

Hunter ended up covering the entire distance, apparently not wanting to hand the reins over to Sebastian. Sebastian found himself not protesting, his stomach starting to twist in worry as they got closer and closer to his mother’s house. He had no idea if she’d be there, or if he’d find her the same way he’d found his father. His father had been… tough to see. When the numbness and horror of the day had worn off, Sebastian had found his insides clenching with devastation at losing his father. Losing his mother… Sebastian wasn’t sure he’d be able to cope.

Sebastian wasn’t “close” with anyone, but he supposed that for him, he was close with his mother. She’d raised him, homeschooling him for several years in France, and then when they’d moved to the USA, she’d earned full custody of Sebastian in the divorce. He’d started going to normal schools then, but she’d always sat down and worked through his homework with him until he got too old to find it “cool”.

Every night until he hit fourteen had been spent preparing and having dinner together, something she’d insisted on. She’d researched numerous forms of parenting, and Sebastian had to admit… she’d done alright. He hadn’t hated her, as his peers in high school had hated their parents. She’d always been willing to talk to him, and for his fifteenth birthday provided him with condoms and an absolutely mortifying discussion about the mechanics of gay sex (pfft, as if he didn’t know) and the relationships and other horrific things he preferred not to remember. She’d said she knew boys would have sex, regardless of her not wanting her baby to grow up; she wanted to ensure he had a safe environment, rather than risking himself by doing it in a car or a public bathroom, and that if he did it, he’d always be safe. She’d always been his biggest fan, he supposed. The idea of losing her was not something he even wanted to contemplate.

His stomach was clenched, breathing was a little harder than it should have been and his head and jaw physically ached from how hard he was clenching his teeth. He had spent several minutes tapping out frantic patterns with his fingers before Hunter had slapped his hands with a growl, telling him to calm the fuck down. Now he was trying to regulate his breathing, shifting anxiously in his seat, licking his lips, and cursing the goddamn broken mobile reception because he couldn’t call his mother.

“Here,” Sebastian muttered pointing to a long, gravelled driveway.

Hunter made the turn smoothly, gliding up the driveway, gravel crunching beneath the wheels. Sebastian stopped all of his movements, just stared at the still house ahead of him. The house became clearer as they got closer, the large trees no longer blocking his sight. After what felt like an age, Hunter slid the car into park, switching the engine off.

“Good luck,” Hunter muttered as Sebastian tried to slide out of the seat as if he didn’t care.

His fingers trembled on his house keys, and he might have not shut the car door hard enough to close it properly. His knees felt shaky as he all but ran the distance from the car to the front door.

“Maman!”

He shouted into the silence, as soon as he had the front door open. The second he opened the door, he knew she wasn’t there though. As he’d driven up the driveway, he’d truly begun to suspect that would be the case but… he just had to check. He had to be sure. The house was empty, as expected. Suddenly, an idea occurred to him and he jogged into the pantry, opening the box that held the water and electrical supply.

He let out a laugh of relief, flicking the switches up. She was okay. She had left of her own volition, not due to turning into a Creature. She always turned the electricity and water off if she was leaving for longer than a day, claiming that every little bit helped the planet. It didn’t matter that the electricity was entirely solar generated, the water from a tank in the backyard. It was still something she liked to do. The fact that she had turned it off meant that she’d chosen to leave.

As he walked back into the kitchen, he spotted the envelope. She must have known he’d come for her. He heard Hunter come up behind him and felt him lean slightly over his shoulder to look at the pale yellow envelope.

“What is mon emerord enfent?” He asked, not even trying to say the words correctly.

“ _Mon émeraude enfant,_ ” Sebastian muttered absently fingers sliding into the envelope to pull the note out. “My emerald baby… It was her nickname for me…” He mumbled, unfolding the letter, not bothering to explain any further.

_Sebastian, love,_

_I always knew vaccinations were dangerous, but I never expected them to be like this. I’ve been following this Infection for the past week, since word got out what happened. It’s the IFV vaccine, the one doled out several years ago. I pray that you never took it, that you remembered your silly old mother’s morals and refused it. The vaccine itself wasn’t good, they never are. But it was the change in the water; Neffler Corp released the new chemical into the water, just a simple anti-bacterial but the chemical reacted with the vaccine. It’s completely warped the blood cells and made human blood highly acidic._

_I can tell you what I know and hope you find this in time. Those with the Infection need blood to survive, and will drink it from whatever source possible. We already knew that the IFV increased their need for iron; the chemical interaction is essentially eating their blood cells and the only way for them to survive is to consume blood. Fortunately, or unfortunately, the blood has become so acidic that it has begun to burn away elements of the brain, destroying much cognitive function. I can’t say if it’ll continue to destroy the brain matter; only time will tell that one._

_You always loved those awful zombie movies. Think zombies mixed with your classical vampirism. Stay safe, my little dear. Keep away from them at all costs, and if you can’t avoid it… I would never condone killing, but a lioness will do anything to protect her cubs, so… feel free to use those awful shooting lessons your father always took you to._

“Why does she call you a bitch?” Hunter asked, perplexed.

“Bichette,” Sebastian groaned. “It’s another nickname.”

“Right.” Hunter intoned as Sebastian turned back to the letter.

_I’d advise you head to California. Whilst it hasn’t been confirmed, there is word that there is safety in California, likely due to the higher populace initially refusing the vaccinations. It is unlikely that this awful epidemic can be spread, but I haven’t been able to perform the appropriate research. I theorise that blood sharing might cause an infection to be spread to an otherwise healthy human, but beyond that, there is no evidence to identify how easily this is shared, given that it developed as a result of the IFV vaccination and the water._

_The Infected appear to be similar to humans, but humans with their moral centres removed, likely a result of the destruction of several brain areas, so be wary. They can move as humans, and may even learn as humans. But they are not dead, so keep that in mind. Don’t underestimate them at any cost, sweet child._

_Please, my love, keep yourself safe. Don’t do anything stupid. Do not try to be a hero. Just, please, get yourself to California. At the very least we will find each other there, even if it is not the sanctuary we are hoping for._

_Should we remain permanently parted, just know that I am so proud of you, little one. You are the light of my life, and the sunshine on my darkest days. I love you with all of my heart._

_Mommy._

Sebastian sighed heavily and put the letter down, running his thumbnail along the creases. He slid the letter back into its envelope and tapped his chin several times, allowing himself a few minutes to think.

Hunter apparently tired of the silence and nudged Sebastian. “Well? What did she say? It was literally all French to me.”

Sebastian rolled his eyes. “She has a few theories. And I don’t know  _how_  but she’s been studying them. She calls the Creatures the Infected. Says it’s because of the IFV vaccine and a reaction with the new chemical they put in the water this week.”

“Really?” Hunter’s eyebrows shot up.

Sebastian nodded. “I suppose that makes sense… I don’t really know much about chemistry, but… it’s possible. I mean, everyone got the vaccine, and everyone is drinking the water. Combine the two and…  _bam_ , you’ve got a nation of Infected.” He leaned back on the kitchen bench, fixing Hunter with a little frown. “How come you’re not Infected then?”

Hunter shrugged. “It came out around the time I was struggling with the steroids.”

“So?”

“ _So_ ,” Hunter sighed, expression one of struggle, as if battling with himself about how much information to share, “even after I got off the steroids, I was still addicted to the needle and started shooting up saline just for the rush. I didn’t want to have another needle thrown at me when I was trying to get clean so… I just skipped it. I didn’t really need it anyway.”

Sebastian felt his eyebrows shooting into his hairline. That was something he hadn’t known. He’d known of Hunter’s addiction to steroids, even knew he’d spend a few weeks in rehab to get clean. But he hadn’t known the subsequent parts, the addiction to the needle. It was strange to imagine Hunter struggling with anything, frankly.

“What about you?” Hunter shot back, clearly uncomfortable with the situation.

“Oh, that. I’ve never had a vaccination.”

“Huh?”

“My mom didn’t like them. She found loads of studies arguing against them so… she never got me vaccinated. And then the new IFV came out and I figured I’d lasted this long without a problem, so why did I need this one? I just didn’t have it.”

“I still stand by the fact that your mom is a hippy.” Hunter deadpanned.

“Look, it’s apparently saved my gorgeous ass, so shut your damn mouth.” Sebastian found himself snapping. Whilst he was glad that his mother was apparently okay and would continue to be for a while… he couldn’t help but feel pangs of concern. How was she going to get to California? Was someone with her and taking care of her? How long had she been gone, and why hadn’t she tried to contact him, or waited for him?

He found himself licking his lips again, a nervous tick of his, and then slipped the envelope into his back pocket.

“Look, it’s just past midday. How’s the fuel situation?”

“Nearly empty. We got here okay, and can try to fill up but I don’t hope for much.”

Sebastian nodded. “There’s a gas station down the road. We’ll head there. Spend the night here?”

“Sure, unless you want to press on.”

Sebastian shrugged. “There’s probably not much point lingering. Just… Give me ten minutes. I’ll meet you in the car.”

Hunter gave him a weird look, and Sebastian didn’t meet his eyes, but Hunter left him regardless, front door clicking quietly behind him.

Sebastian wandered the house in the same way he’d done earlier that morning, looking over his bedroom, his mother’s bedroom. It smelled faintly of her perfume, and looked to be in its perfect state of tidiness, various scientific journals stacked neatly beside her bed, pictures of her and Sebastian in various points of life. He took his time to separate some of the pictures from their frames, folding them with more ease and care than he’d allowed himself that morning, and slipped them, along with his letter and photo of his father’s family inside his leather wallet, treating them like delicate items.

He knew as he walked through the house that he’d never see it again. Sebastian had never been one for sentimentalities but he found himself hoping that his mother had taken at the very least albums with her. He noticed several photos throughout the house missing, their hooks hanging bare on the walls, and knew she’d taken them. When he looked under her bed, he found she had indeed taken the albums, and… shit, she’d taken his whole box of baby items, the box missing from its usual spot underneath her bed. He swallowed around the lump in his throat and found himself giving a rueful smile.

He hadn’t lived in the house for long, but it had been his mother’s for ten years. Saying goodbye wasn’t easy but he managed. Armed with several photos, he left the house and returned to his car. Hunter didn’t look annoyed or impatient, but at least his expression was free of pity.

“Let’s drive.” Sebastian murmured as he slid into the passenger seat.

Hunter flicked on the ignition and they set off again. Sebastian tried to ignore the tightness in his chest

When they reached the very edge of town, as far west as could possibly be called Columbus, the car finally died. They’d had no luck at the various stations they’d tried, barely getting trickles from the fuel pumps.

“What now?” Sebastian found himself asking, although he knew the answer. The ultimate plan was to get to California now, but they definitely had to make a detour to Colorado, to check on Hunter’s family.

Hunter said the words Sebastian hated, but knew were coming.

“Now? We walk.”


	3. Chapter 3

_Days 3 to 5._

It wasn't the walking that was hard. It was the brain-numbing silence that sucked balls. Sebastian was bored. Hunter had been annoyingly quiet for three hours. Sebastian supposed part of that was his fault; he hadn't exactly been making conversation, too caught in his own thoughts to really worry about conversing but now that several hours had passed, he found himself wondering if their entire trip was going to be like this. Full of silence.

The silence wasn't uncomfortable, but it wasn't exactly thrilling or thought stimulating. They'd reached the edges of Columbus only to be greeted by a hoard of Infected, as Sebastian found himself thinking of them as. In theory, they could have gone around them, taking a wide detour, but he frankly wasn't in the mood. He was angry, and upset, and if he took his frustrations out on the feeding frenzy... well.

Hunter had stormed up to him amidst his shooting, and punched his arm so hard that Sebastian had wondered if he’d broken a goddamn bone. His teeth were clenched, the muscles in his jaw tight from where Sebastian stood, glaring at him. Hunter’s expression was of cold anger, eyes narrowed and lips pursed. His shoulders were clearly tensed and he snatched the gun from a shocked Sebastian’s hand.

"Do that again," Hunter snarled, "and I'll put a bullet through you. We can't go around wasting ammo just because we're pissed off."

Sebastian had glared at him but not said anything. Once the rush of anger had worn off, he'd unfortunately realised the stupidity of his actions. They could have gone around, but instead he'd let his emotions get the best of him. Fuck, Hunter was right. He didn't want to admit it to him, and he'd go to his grave denying it, but... Hunter was right. Damnit.

Instead of arguing with him, Sebastian just stormed off along the highway, clenching his jaw.

Hunter caught up with him easily. "Smythe!” He snapped, before exhaling heavily, his tone becoming condescending, "If we're going to survive this, you need to realise that you can't just go charging into things. I know you hate taking orders, but for fucks sake, just listen to me on these things. I actually know what I'm doing."

"Really?" Sebastian trilled. "Because, last I checked, you hadn't been in some zombie apocalypse, or... any war of any kind. A couple of years of military school does not a soldier make,  _Clarington_."

Hunter huffed, an exasperated look on his face. "But I know more about tactics and survival than you, mister 'I'll try lighting a fire on the kitchen bench when I have a perfectly good fireplace a few rooms away'. You're right; I haven't been in any situation like this. But I know how to survive given the situation. You're just... going to have to trust me when I tell you to do certain things. Or not do certain things, like take your frustrations out using Infected like a fucking shooting gallery."

Sebastian continued saying nothing, just kept walking.

"Is that a yes?"

"Whatever." Sebastian muttered.

"That's as close as I'm going to get to a 'yes', isn't it?" Hunter sighed.

Sebastian’s silence efficiently ended the conversation.

They walked in silence, only exchanging words when one of them needed to stop for a bathroom break, or to tear into the bars in their ration packs. When the sun began to fall across the horizon, Hunter finally called them to a halt.

"We should probably think about stopping to camp."

Sebastian spun to look at him. "Camp?"

"Yes." Hunter gave him a look that screamed 'Duh' and it annoyed him far more than it should.

"So we're just going to camp. By the side of the road." Sebastian deadpanned, giving him an incredulous expression. That had not been a part of the plan as far as he knew.

"Yes. What else would we do?"

"Walk until we hit a town?"

"By all means, walk the next... seventeen miles before crashing. But I'm going to start setting up camp here, and get a decent night sleep and some warm food into me. I don't know about you, but I'd rather not freeze my balls off."

Sebastian sighed. "So... just... stop here?" He couldn't tell the difference in the spots beside the road. They all looked the same to him.

"No. We'll find a patch that's relatively flat and hopefully a little concealed. We haven't seen any Infected for hours, but I don't want to take any chances."

"Fine. Whatever." Hunter was right, so Sebastian just followed him for the next ten minutes as Hunter looked around, ignoring the random little houses that dotted the otherwise plain countryside. Farms, fields abandoned for the winter, and likely for good, were all that surrounded them and Sebastian had to say it was one of the most boring landscapes he’d ever seen. Eventually they found a small curve in the road, which Hunter took. They came across a few houses clustered together, but several hundred metres past that revealed a pond and a thick cover of trees.

“Will this be safe?” Sebastian asked sceptically, viewing the houses just up from them.

Hunter nodded. “Well, we’ll hide obviously. But it should be, yes. I’ll scout things out, but you set up…” He trailed off and gave a heavy sigh. “Okay,  _you_  scout things and I’ll set up camp.”

“Why?”

“After the issue with the fire this morning, I don’t trust you to know how to set up camp.”

Sebastian frowned before heaving a sigh of defeat. Hunter was right. He didn’t really know how to scout the area, but he knew even less about setting up a campsite. He dropped his bag without thinking, the weight of it thunking to the ground.

Sebastian was too busy enjoying the relief at being free of the pack, his sweaty back exposed to the cooling afternoon air to pay Hunter’s annoyed expression any heed. When he'd first picked up the pack that morning it hadn't felt that heavy but as he'd spent several hours carrying it, he'd started to feel the weight more and more, his lower back and shoulders in particular starting to ache under the strain. He'd eventually adjusted the straps and whilst that had eased the pressure, spreading the weight more consistently across him, it was still a relatively heavy load, particularly as he wasn't used to carrying more than his law textbooks for more than an hour. His shirt clung to his back, and he tugged it away from his skin, bringing fresh air to the skin of his back with a hum of enjoyment.

"So, captain," He said teasingly, grabbing his canteen to take a large swallow of water, "how does one scout to your satisfaction?"

Hunter eased his pack off of his shoulders and set it down with more care than Sebastian had. "Go explore the woods, take a couple of guns. Make sure nobody is around. Do a full circle of the place, and keep your eyes and ears open. Don't drift into Sebastian-land and start imagining me naked or something, and pay attention to what's going on around you. You’re scouting, not going for a walk."

“You’re so fucking funny," Sebastian teased, double checking his gun in his holster.

"While you're at it, try to find some dry wood. Kindling, and some large pieces. I'll light a fire, but we'll need some to keep it going." He frowned as he looked around the small clearing they were gathered in. "I have a feeling it might be a bit cold tonight, so we'll want the tent up soon, and a fire going for as long as possible. Hop to it, Smythe."

Sebastian poked his tongue at Hunter and walked off into the cluster of trees around them. It really was a small patch of trees, likely there for the locals to go running through. As he wandered, he came across several running paths and even a drinking fountain and some benches, but despite walking a full circle around the campsite, he didn't run into anybody. He wasn't really surprised though. If what his mother had said was correct, the Infected would be sticking to cities, towns, places that lots of people would be, rather than some tiny forest beside a lake and closed housing community. He knew if he was feeling like sucking blood, he wouldn't be wandering around here at least.

By the time he returned to the campsite, Hunter had a small fire going and the tent they were supposed to share set up. He hadn't really taken the moment to think about the fact that he'd be sharing a tent with Hunter until then, but he took a moment to smirk as he sauntered back and commented "Well, isn't this very Brokeback Mountain of us."

"Careful, or I'll beat you with a tire iron..." Hunter muttered, not even looking up as Sebastian came closer.

"Ouch. Too soon, Clarington." He said, tossing the armful of wood he'd collected just short of the fire, making it easy to access as they'd need it. Sebastian dropped himself onto the ground, the cool air around them starting to bite into his skin. Whilst he'd been warm all day from walking in the sun, now that he'd stopped and the sun had started to set, he felt the cold begin to creep into him. He'd never been good with cold. He leaned over and pulled his coat off the top of his pack, wrapping it around himself before yanking his boots off. His feet were burning hot from being in heavy shoes all day, and the relief of removing his shoes made him moan softly. He wriggled his toes in his socks before taking them off and crossing his legs underneath him.

Hunter finally looked up at him and gave Sebastian a small smile. "How's the back now?"

Sebastian shrugged. "Good enough. What's for dinner?"

"Oh god, you're going to be a bitch these next however many days. Hope you liked canned goods."

Sebastian wrinkled his nose.

"Yes, I know you have a discerning palate, but we can't exactly carry that with us."

"No, no, it'll be fine." He sighed. He knew as soon as they'd filled their packs that he'd be eating canned goods, freeze-dried fruit and vegetables, and... weird things in vacuum-sealed packs. He wasn't sure what they were, but he was certain he wasn't going to enjoy them.

"Sebastian, you don't have to pretend not to be a princess around me. I've heard you bitching about organic grass-fed beef enough times to know that you're a bitch when it comes to your food." He knew Hunter was teasing him, so Sebastian didn't take the baiting.

"I just know what I like." Sebastian said finally as Hunter grabbed the saucepan from the backpack and filled it with some awful looking substance from a can. It was brown and lumpy and he was pretty sure it was meant to be a meat and vegetable soup but it really looked like someone thrown up in the pan. He forced a smile.

Hunter grinned and Sebastian wanted to throw something at him. Hunter's face morphed into one of a wide smirk, eyes glinting with mischief, his dimples standing out more than usual; Hunter was going to enjoy every little hit to Sebastian’s luxurious lifestyle far too much. Asshole.

As he set the saucepan over the fire, Hunter leaned back against his pack, using it as a prop behind him. The night was starting to set in, the shadows lengthening and the last rays of afternoon sun were peeking through the trees. It, combined with the bright orange of the fire, provided a glow against Hunter's golden skin that made Sebastian half want to punch him for being so damned good looking, and half want to climb into his lap and fuck him senseless. Sebastian, luckily, was good at self-control and did neither.

Hunter watched Sebastian, not even hiding it, as he sipped his own water. His expression was rather peaceful, eyes giving away nothing. This was nothing new however.

"I don't think you've ever been so quiet." Hunter remarked after some time.

"I'm not quiet." Sebastian protested.

"You've hardly said a word all day."

"Are you complaining?"

"No. But it's unusual for you. I'd ask if something were wrong, but, one, I know something is wrong and two, it might give the impression that I care."

Sebastian couldn't stop the huff of laughter escaping. "And we all know you definitely don't care."

"I never said that." Hunter said lightly. "I just don't like to give the impression I do. It gives people the wrong idea and then they start expecting it."

"Well, I'll try to talk your ear off tomorrow."

"I look forward to it."

Sebastian smirked. "I look forward to sharing a tent with you."

Hunter rolled his eyes, a good-natured grin slipping onto his face. "I knew that'd come up eventually."

"What, you're not worried I'm going to grab your hand and slip it down the front of my sleeping bag?"

"You know I'd break your hand if you did that. Besides, we've slept in the same bed before."

Sebastian nodded, recalling the numerous times they'd fallen asleep on the couch together, drunk out of their mind, fallen asleep with heads resting on each other’s shoulder, drunk out of their mind, or even times they'd crashed in the same bed, again... drunk out of their mind. It had happened far more than he could even count, as was wont to do in six years of friendship and three of them living together during college.

"We sleep together a lot when we're drunk." Sebastian pointed out, laughing.

"We do, don't we."

"Now if only you'd drop that straight boy persona, and the pants, we'd be all set."

"In your dreams, Smythe."

"Oh. It will be." Sebastian winked. "And you'll get to hear alllll about it tonight."

Hunter groaned, dropping his head onto his knees. "Lucky me."

Sebastian just laughed.

The stew, as it turned out, wasn’t too bad. It looked awful and wasn’t the nicest thing Sebastian had ever eaten, but it was acceptable and didn’t make his stomach feel like it was going to explode. It was a little salty, but he’d live. Furthering his surprise, it actually filled him up and Hunter didn’t look ready to devour Sebastian from his own hunger either, a rare expression on the other man.

“Okay, this doesn’t suck for now.” Sebastian said as they lay staring into the bright orange flames, the only sounds around them being the crackle of the fire and the occasional sound of the breeze rustling the trees around them. “But I suspect it’s going to get really old, really fast.”

“You suspect right.” Hunter said, not looking over at him. From where Sebastian sat huddled near the flames, he could see Hunter’s eyes were closed as he sprawled out on the ground, an arm tucked behind his head. “But get used to it. I have a feeling we’ll be doing this far more than we’d like.”

Sebastian sighed. “This was not the Spring Break I had in mind.”

“No?” Hunter teased, eyes still closed, a small smile on his lips.

“There was more alcohol and nakedness involved. Lots more nakedness.”

“I suppose if you wanted, you could wander around naked. It might get a bit cold though.”

“So not what I meant, asshole.”

“My mistake.” Hunter chuckled again and then pushed himself up onto his elbows. “We should probably be getting to bed.”

Sebastian wrinkled his nose and looked at his watch. “It’s not even eight.”

“What else is there to do? And the sooner we go to bed, the more sleep we get, the easier tomorrow will be.”

Sebastian groaned. “But… the fire. Warmth…”

“The tent will be warm enough.” Hunter said, getting to his feet and kicking some dirt over the fire, effectively extinguishing the flames.

“Why would you do that?!” Sebastian cried, eyes widening. “Now it’ll be colder!”

Hunter gave him a long-suffering look. “Never leave flames unattended, Sebastian. That’s like… the first rule. Did you not pay attention on summer camp?”

“I was homeschooled until I was ten, idiot. I didn’t exactly have friends to go camping with either.” Sebastian spat, a glare filling his features.

Hunter sighed, rubbing a hand over his face. “Fine, fine. Just… get in the damn tent.”

Sebastian pulled a face at Hunter, ignoring the voice telling him it was childish, and slid into the cramped tent Hunter had set up. It was only a two person tent, but being inside made Sebastian wonder how  _one_  person was supposed to fit into it, let alone two.

Hunter crawled in after him several minutes later, once Sebastian had squirmed and struggled his way into the sleeping bag. Any appeal camping may have had disappeared with the sleeping situation. They’d grabbed mats to place under the sleeping bags, but Sebastian still felt every bump underneath them. The bag smelled like plastic, and he could hardly move. Sebastian  _sprawled_  in his sleep usually. Now he could hardly use his arms, or kick his feet out.

“This is shit.” Sebastian remarked into the darkness after several minutes.

Hunter heaved a sigh. “Get used to it.”

“I might kill you before then.”

“I hope so. It means I won’t have to hear your bitching any longer.”

“Can I just give myself up to the Infected?”

“Please do. More food for me.”

“You’re an asshole.”

“You’re a prissy princess.”

“I just don’t understand why anybody would want to go camping.”

“We’re not doing it for shits and giggles, Smythe. Just shut that cocksucking mouth of yours and go the fuck to sleep.”

Sebastian sighed and squirmed around some more, trying to get comfortable. He sat up at one point to grab two blankets from his pack, snuggling into them.

“If you don’t stop squirming soon, I will seriously kick you in the head.” Hunter groaned, rolling onto his stomach.

“Hmmmph.” Sebastian hummed, already half asleep.

Morning was a bitch. Sebastian woke up shivering, half hard, and the muscles in his body aching. It didn’t help that he was woken, not by Hunter kicking him awake, but by being so  _damn cold_. Despite his two blankets and sleeping bag, he still felt like he’d taken an ice bath and had subsequently fallen asleep in it. The cold went right through to his bones and made him feel positively sick with it, his muscles cramping and tensing violently as he shivered.

When he peeked his head out of the tent, it was still dark, the barest glow of orange along the dark blue horizon. It was even colder outside than in the tent, so he curled back up inside, determined not to move until Hunter made it an absolute necessity. Hunter, thankfully, seemed out cold, light snores humming through him. He was bare inches away and after debating it internally for what felt like an age, Sebastian shifted himself closer to Hunter’s back, hoping to somehow leech body heat from him.

It didn’t make much of a difference, but at least it was something. He fell back into a fitful sleep, one full of images of his father’s brain exploding over a white room, his dog’s fur matting with congealing blood, eyes white, his little brother grinning viciously at him through a blood covered face.

He awoke again to pale light seeping through the dark green of the tent, and Hunter shifting in his sleep.

“Oh god, are you a sleep cuddler?” Hunter groaned, voice deeper than usual and thick with sleep.

“Fuck off…” Sebastian moaned, inching closer and desperate to get the warmth back. “So cold.”

“Man up. It wasn’t that cold.”

Sebastian didn’t retort, his teeth choosing that minute to start vibrating into chattering.

He heard Hunter sigh and say “I’ll go make you coffee.” The rustle of the tent material alerted Sebastian to Hunter moving outside and after several minutes, he heard the slow crackle of the fire building up.

Eventually, Sebastian crawled out, still wrapped in his blankets and sleeping bag, the blankets over his head like an enormous hood. He settled himself beside the tiny fire, hoping desperately that he’d warm up soon. He didn’t think he’d ever felt so cold in his life and it was physically painful.

Hunter set about boiling some water over the fire, and when he handed Sebastian a tin cup of black coffee, Sebastian forgot to snark about it being instant, too busy wanting to cry with elation at having the warm drink in his trembling hands.

“I forgot you hated the cold,” Hunter remarked, sitting himself cross-legged on the ground, wearing only a jacket and socks to keep him warm over his clothing.

Sebastian started to say something, but lost his words in the violence of his shivers. He finally gave up trying and just returned to his drink, breathing in the steam like a lifeline. The heat of a coffee was a shock to his mouth and he found himself wondering if it were possible for the inside of your mouth to become cold. It certainly felt like it was no warmer than the rest of his body.

Once he was halfway through his coffee, he thanked Hunter, trying to convey his genuine gratitude to him in his expression. Sebastian wasn’t often grateful towards others but now was a rare moment that he felt it, and he figured it wouldn’t expand Hunter’s ego too badly if he did say thank you. Besides, the coffee wasn’t actually that bad. Hunter shrugged, accepting the thanks.

Across Hunter’s lap he had the map of the USA he’d nabbed back in Baltimore. He was examining it closely. “Hmm, aiming for Dayton today okay with you?”

Sebastian shrugged. “Sure. Why not.”

“It’s about 45 miles, but that’s doable. Eleven hours of walking at a four mile per hour pace, plus stopping for lunch.” He paused. “Thank god it’s not summer, or we’d have to stop for several hours during the day.”

Sebastian frowned. “Shouldn’t we be avoiding towns?”

“In theory. But I figure we can avoid the Infected pretty easily, and then break into a motel. Then we don’t have to sleep outside. It’d be warmer that way, even without heating.”

“I am in favour of anything providing more warmth.” Sebastian grinned.

A small smile spread across Hunter’s face, less guarded than usual. “I thought you would be.”

They made it to Dayton in surprisingly good time. By the time they reached town, they were both exhausted but glad to see the shadowed outline of the city. However, reaching town meant something new entirely; they had Infected to avoid.

With Sebastian’s mother’s note in mind, things were a little easier, and the more they saw of the Infected from a distance, the more they realised the overall advantages they had on them. The Infected were really like morally-devoid humans; none of their senses had increased. They couldn’t seem to hear any better, or see any better. They didn’t seem to smell things differently either. In fact, as long as Sebastian and Hunter stayed out of sight and kept quiet, for the most part, they found it easy to creep into town.

All was going well until they turned into the street, and ran almost directly into a group of Infected. Stupid. Fucking stupid. They’d grown cocky and Sebastian had walked around the corner ahead of Hunter, not checking beforehand if the way was clear. A group of seven Infected (were they pack creatures?) stood less than four foot away from them as Sebastian and Hunter pulled up short.

The moment lengthened. This close, Sebastian could smell the blood that had dried on their faces, could see where it had dripped down their cheeks, necks, onto their clothing. The Infected stared at Sebastian and Hunter, their pupils blown wide open. The one in front cocked its head to the side, looking at them with what could only be described as curiosity and then… They growled, the low vibrations deep in their throats.

“Run,” Hunter breathed and Sebastian heard Hunter turn on his heel, bolting in the opposite direction. Barely a second later, Sebastian followed.

He had no idea where they were running, just that they had to fucking get out of there. Behind him, their feet thundering and loud against the silence of the town, Infected fought to catch up to them. Despite walking for eleven hours that day, despite their exhaustion, Hunter and Sebastian managed to barely run faster, their heavy packs and boots slowing them down dangerously.

Sebastian had always been a long-distance runner, able to run and run for hours, sometimes in short bursts of sprinting, and at the moment, he was so intensely grateful that Hunter had kept him going to the gym during college. Hunter had always been built as a sprinter, but Sebastian knew they had to escape the Creatures soon, or Hunter would start losing power. Adrenaline could only get you so far.

Ahead of him, Hunter turned sharply into one street, and then into another, Sebastian bare inches behind him as they raced. The Infected were slowly starting to fall behind, but miraculously continued after them. Fuck, fuck, fuck, Sebastian swore internally, wondering if it would be wise to stop, and draw their guns. He groped for his gun, but the movements caused him to lose momentum and he lost his pace momentarily, before realising he couldn’t afford to fumble around for a weapon. He gave up his desperate search and just focussed on running as hard and as fast as possible.  

Hunter finally seemed to find something when they came upon a fenced off alleyway. Hunter jumped quickly, hands flying to the top of the fence and pulling himself up onto to top of the wire. Sebastian quickly jumped to it, cursing as he felt barbed wire at the top tearing into his skin in various places, Hunter’s hands helping him get to the top. Hunter threw himself down onto the other side. For a moment, Sebastian was more terrified than he’d been in his entire life, as he felt the hands of the Infected grasping at his leg, holding him before he could swing his leg over to the other side of the fence.

Gunshots rang out and the two Infected gripping Sebastian’s legs dropped to the ground. Sebastian kicked his leg over the fence and dropped down to the safe side, drawing his glock as he moved. The Infected were snarling at them through the wire fence, apparently unable to coordinate their limbs well enough to climb the fence. They ignored their fallen… friends (friends? What exactly were they to each other?) and threw their bodies against the fence. It rattled violently, and Sebastian strongly doubted its ability to hold against the force of five bodies throwing themselves at it.

“Shoot ‘em?” Sebastian gasped, looking over at a red-faced Hunter. Hunter nodded and they both raised their guns, quickly ending the Infected in front of them.

They stood, staring at each, gasping hard as they attempted to regain their breath. They may have been fit, but it wasn’t every day that they had to literally run for their lives.

“That was fucking stupid, Smythe.” Hunter snarled at him. “Did you not think to look around fucking corner?”

Sebastian glowered, blushing. He couldn’t say anything in his defense; Hunter was right, and Sebastian had nearly cost them both of their lives. Sebastian just… looked at the ground, trying to find the words to justify his actions, but couldn’t think of any.

Eventually, he heard Hunter huff and walk away. “C’mon, we have to find safety before more of those fucking things come to investigate the gunshots.”

Sebastian followed after him down several streets, his heart still pounding erratically from the chase, his adrenaline still roaring from the prospect of his life potentially ending just minutes before. Hunter eventually found somewhere he deemed acceptable (and Sebastian wasn’t sure why; it looked like any of the numerous hotels they’d passed before) and waited as Sebastian picked the locks.

Once inside, they sealed the doors and Hunter did a quick investigation of the floor, Sebastian starting to limp after him. His boots were squelching unpleasantly and when he looked down, he grimaced. His pants were torn, blood soaking through his pants and apparently dripping into his boots. He sighed softly, hardly feeling the pain thanks to the adrenaline still flooding his veins.

“Get to the third or fourth floor and wait for me there,” Hunter ordered Sebastian, apparently having noticed his bloody leg earlier.

Sebastian might normally have argued, but after nearly having them killed earlier, he figured it was best to stay on Hunter’s good side, or he’d started tearing into him like the psycho bitch in Silent Hill. He instead moved with some ease to the stairs and all but vaulted himself up the emergency evacuation stairs, hoping to reach the floor he needed before the pain got too much. He didn’t know how badly he was cut, if it’d just be light pain or he’d genuinely cut into muscle, but he wasn’t about to take chances and risk himself not being able to get up them.

The third floor was clear. He moved along each room, opening the unlocked doors (apparently locks died when the power did; nice touch. Had Hunter known this and chosen the hotel for that reason?), and found each of the rooms and bathrooms empty. By the time he was done and limping back to the stairs, he ran into Hunter.

“You’re a fucking idiot for nearly getting us killed, but I suppose you’ve suffered enough.” Hunter said, putting an arm around Sebastian’s waist and bringing some of Sebastian’s weight onto his own body. Sebastian hadn’t realised how much of a relief that could be until some of the weight was taken from him, and he almost groaned from the respite. “Let’s get you cleaned up.”

“Sounds magical,” Sebastian sighed, letting Hunter lead them to the closest room. Hunter all but dropped Sebastian on the bed closest to the door, and grabbed the chair from under the desk, shoving it under the doorknob as an additional barricade to the security lock. Sebastian watched him with a quirked eyebrow, the pain definitely starting to set into his body now. He slowly inspected himself, wincing at each movement and every time he looked somewhere new, he discovered more cuts. How badly had he torn himself on the fucking barbed wire?

Hunter dropped his pack to the table and started going through it before finally stepping up into Sebastian’s line of sight. In his hands, Sebastian saw a small first aid kid and Sebastian suddenly found himself desperately hoping that they were just light scratches and wouldn’t need anything more than disinfecting. He somehow had a feeling that Hunter would literally sew his skin together if necessary, and Sebastian was definitely not drunk enough for that.

“Alright, strip, gently.” Hunter told him, spreading the medical kit across the floor, pulling some bottles and bandages out of the little pack.

“That desperate to get me naked?” Sebastian teased, easing out of his pack and then shirt. As he moved, he winced as the material caught on some small cuts on his arm and chest. Blood was smeared across his chest. Shit. That one didn’t look fun, and it was still dribbling blood.

“That desperate to stop you bleeding everywhere.” Hunter rolled his eyes. “Pants too. I’ll do them all at once.”

Sebastian yanked his boots off, regretting the force of his movements when he made whatever injuries he had in his legs flare up in pain. “Fuckkkk…” He groaned. “That was one of my less bright ideas.”

“You’re full of those today…” Hunter said, annoyance lacing his voice.

“Yeah, yeah, I get it. I’m sorry. I learned my lesson though.”

Hunter looked up at Sebastian and he was shocked to see a little smile on Sebastian’s face. “Honestly, I think you have too. It’s why I’m stitching you up instead of waiting for the infection to kill you..”

“Nice to know…” Sebastian sighed. He got off the bed and undid his belt and pants, wincing again as the canvas caught on his cuts. “Jesus fucking Christ, that hurts like a bitch…”

“Just wait until I start cleaning them…”

Sebastian sat down on the edge of the bed in nothing but his underwear. He didn’t feel exposed, used to showing more skin than this, and honestly, too distracted by the sharp pains around his body. There were two cuts across his chest, one in his arm, another his wrist, two along the outside of one thigh, tearing all the way down his thigh to midway on his calf, another had caught the inside of his calf as well. Some were bleeding more than others, but none of them felt particularly pleasant.

“I was about to comment that one would think you’ve never climbed over barbed wire before, but then I realised you probably hadn’t…” Hunter said lightly, bringing up a bottle of what Sebastian could only assume was disinfectant and pouring it over something that looked like cotton pads.

“No, can’t say I have. Is that some kind of life skill I missed out on the same day we were taught to light fires?”

“Apparently.” Hunter joked, inching closer to Sebastian and getting onto his knees. “Hold out your arm.”

“If I’d known that it only took getting mauled by barbed wire to get you on your knees for me, I’d have done it years ago,” Sebastian joked, before jerking in pain as Hunter applied some disinfectant to a random cut across his leg. The wicked grin on his face told Sebastian that was punishment for his comment.

Sebastian sighed, defeated and held out his arm obediently, hissing slightly as Hunter started to clean the wounds, gentler this time. He took several shaky breaths in and out, trying to even his heart rate.

“Can I have some alcohol or something? I just know this is only going to get better.”

“No.” Hunter told him shortly. “Your reactions will help me work, believe it or not.”

“Fucking yay…” Sebastian muttered and closed his eyes.

He sat back and let Hunter slowly move across his body, pressing disinfectant to his various wounds, biting his lip hard with each fresh rush of pain. He didn’t say anything though, just trying to concentrate on everything but what was going on. He knew he deserved it, but fuck if it didn’t hurt like a bitch. When Hunter started to press some bandages to his skin, he started to relax, finally thinking it was over.

“Now for the fun part…” Hunter muttered.

Sebastian’s eyes snapped open. “Fun part?”

“You need stitches on your arm. Be thankful it’s not your leg because there’s some serious muscle in there.”

“S…stitches?” Sebastian breathed brokenly. “Have you ever given someone stitches?”

“Well, no. But we can either have you do that, or have you keep bleeding. Seriously, if you want to make yourself sick check out the way the skin on your arm is gaping.”

“Thanks, but I’d rather not…”

“Exactly. I know how to do it; we just don’t exactly cut people open so we can test ourselves on them. Hold still, and breathe deep for me. Then you can drink yourself to sleep.”

Sebastian almost wanted to cry, but he held his arm out and Hunter took it into his hand and moved to sit up on the bed beside Sebastian.

It hurt. It really fucking hurt. But… not as badly as he was expecting. The worst part was actually feeling the thread tug through his skin, but not feeling any pain during that.

“Why can I feel that, but not any of the pain…?” He asked hollowly.

“The nerves around it are probably dead. Just… a bit longer…” He muttered. Eventually, he stopped, and Sebastian felt him press more disinfectant to his arm before pressing a bandage over the stitches.

Sebastian almost threw himself back onto the bed, but his cuts reminded him to move carefully. “This is going to be a bitch in the morning, isn’t it?”

Hunter nodded and got up, picking up the blood soaked cottons and tools, taking them into the bathroom with him. Sebastian heard him fill the sink with water, and then the gentle sound of Hunter pouring disinfectant into the water, the instruments clattering in the porcelain sink.

When Hunter returned to the room, he moved across to the window and pushed it open slightly. “We have the choice of having a fire and a smoky room or a colder room and fresher air.”

“Worst choice ever. Can I have some alcohol now? I think I might actually be sick from how bad this is hurting.”

“Well, next time, don’t get us chased by Infected and we won’t have to climb over any fences with barbed wire.”

Hunter reached into his bag and pulled out a small flask. “Not too much,” he warned. “Otherwise tomorrow will be a bitch for more than one reason.”

Sebastian rolled his eyes and nodded, taking a swig of the brandy. It burned, and tasted fucking awful going down, but he needed the warmth and he needed the pain relief.

“I vote on fire.” Sebastian finally said.

“I vote I grab you some extra blankets.”

“Fine.”

Hunter checked his guns and gave Sebastian a small smirk before inching out of the room. He returned several minutes later, arms full of blankets that he’d clearly nabbed from other rooms.

“Get on the bed.”

“Oooh, yes sir…” Sebastian purred, voice slurring a little. He’d taken several more swigs and combined with his empty stomach and the earlier adrenaline, his body was absorbing the alcohol at a rate faster than it apparently normally would. He winced as he eased himself up the bed. He didn’t feel all that clean, his skin covered in the dirt and sweat of the day, and whilst Hunter had mopped up the worst of the blood, he could still smell the coppery tang all over him. However, it didn’t stop him from lying down and letting Hunter toss the pile of blankets over him.

“Thanks Hunt…” Sebastian muttered before he fell asleep. Through his heavy eyes, he saw Hunter just… watching him, his face expressionless. 


	4. Chapter 4

_Days 6 to 10_

Sebastian had been right in his prediction that the next morning would hurt like a bitch. When he awoke the next morning, shivering again, he honestly felt like someone had ripped him through with barbed wire. When he belatedly realised that was what had happened, he groaned. Sebastian rolled over in the bed, wincing, the movements aggravating his skin in various places. As per usual, he felt cold, but the skin around his injuries burned, as if someone had held a branding iron to his skin. When he inched a hand down to his thigh to touch one of the many marks, his skin felt warmer to the touch, his cool fingers almost soothing in comparison rather than just being cold.

He pushed himself up onto his elbows with a wince and looked over at Hunter on the other bed, his face indicating that he was sleeping soundly. Sebastian saw that despite being asleep, he looked ready to pounce at any second, his guns on the bedside table between them. He went to the bathroom, shivering violently, every part of his body screaming at the movement and found himself wondering how on earth he was going to walk another forty miles that day. He could hardly walk the short distance to the bathroom, his leg seizing up painfully with each step. He returned to the bed, noticing that Hunter was still asleep. Easing himself back under the blankets, he elected to try to get some more sleep. If Hunter needed him, he could wake him up again.

When he awoke the second time, there was sunlight pouring into the room, Hunter was sitting at the desk, studying the damn map again. Sebastian was a little surprised to find him less than fully dressed, wearing only a t-shirt and pants, his feet.

"Why'd you let me sleep?" he croaked, sitting up slightly.

"There's no way you'll be able to walk today." Hunter said, looking up from the map. "You'd just slow us down and probably get us killed before we got out of the city. I figured it best to just let you sleep, try and get you healed."

Sebastian groaned and lay back on the pillows. "I feel like shit."

"You look it."

"Thanks."

Hunter stood up and walked over to the bed. "Get up for a bit. I need to check that they're not infected."

Sebastian creased his face in distaste, frowning, lower lip sticking out in a small pout. "But it's-"

"Shut up. I know you're cold.. Now, up. And if I'm feeling generous when we're done, I'll heat up some water so you can wash yourself."

Sebastian grumbled but slowly extricated himself from the blankets.  He sat on the edge of the bed, and Hunter knelt on the floor, slowly peeling back the edges of the bandages along his legs, the sticky adhesive tugging at the hairs on his thighs.

Hunter moved over to his first aid kit again and started dabbing the wounds gently with more disinfectant, cleaning up the slight weeping mess they'd made. Sebastian's stomach rolled at sight.

"That's fucking disgusting,” he muttered.

Hunter shrugged. "It happens." He methodically moved over Sebastian's body, cleaning his skin carefully and re-bandaging the wounds. "We're running low on bandages. You stay here today, and I'm going to find somewhere to raid and get more supplies." He ran his eyes over Sebastian, a small frown crossing his face. "I'll also get you some painkillers."

Sebastian nodded, knowing his face was pinched and tight. He felt a little sick, but he hoped it would pass. Frankly, he hated sitting here, knowing he was useless and holding them back. He knew that Hunter wouldn't show it, but he was probably worried sick about his family. He likely desperately wanted to get back to Colorado to see if they were okay, but instead they were stuck around some nowhere town with Sebastian too injured to walk.

"Sorry," Sebastian muttered, feeling what he guessed might have been genuine guilt bubbling inside of him.

Hunter shrugged. "I figure you're paying for it." He started cleaning up, pulling his boots on and, preparing himself to leave. "I'll be back in a bit. If I'm not back within two hours, assume I'm dead."

"That's not funny," Sebastian called after him, but he just heard Hunter chuckle as he left the room.

Hunter decided that they could continue the next day. Sebastian was still stiff and sore, but after a day of lying in bed, he was just in the mood to continue walking. There was very little to do; there were no books, the television didn’t work, and they had no internet. Hunter had gone out to get more supplies and had returned with some semi-acceptable food, but beyond that, Sebastian had spent his waking hours bored. By the time morning rolled on, he was more than willing to start walking again, injuries or not.

Walking, as it turned out, was really fucking boring. Yes, it was somewhat strenuous to be walking upwards for 40 miles per day, but that didn't mean the mind shut up. Walking for eleven hours of day meant that there was a lot of time to think. And Sebastian was bored. At the risk of sounding like a five year old... he was bored. Bored bored bored bored bored. They’d only been walking for two days; Sebastian didn’t mind the physical act of walking. He certainly minded the lack of entertainment, and Hunter sure didn’t provide any of that. He stayed silent for the most part, apparently enjoying the scenery or some shit that Sebastian didn't understand.

"I'm bored," Sebastian said midway through their second day back on the road.

"Congratulations,." Hunter deadpanned.

"Can we at least play a game?"

"I spy with my little eye... more fucking grass?" Hunter said, his eyeroll noticeable in his tone.

"Oh geeze, you're fucking hilarious," Sebastian muttered and went back to his walking.

He managed ten minutes of silence, the only sounds being that of the world around them and the beating of their boots on the pavement, before it came to him.

"Truth or truth."

"It's truth or dare, idiot."

Sebastian shook his head. "Nope, not out here. We can't do any dares out here. Besides, they're hardly humiliating when we only get to see each other."

Hunter gave him a funny look. "Why not just ask questions then?"

"Because it's more fun as a game," Sebastian informed him.

"You do realise this is in every lame story and movie with any form of road trip, right?"

Sebastian shrugged. "What can I say? I'm the least clichéd person around; I have to make up for it somewhere."

Hunter gave another of his long-suffering sighs. "Fine,” He huffed eventually. "What do you want to know?"

Sebastian grinned at him wolfishly. "Shit, I didn't expect you to agree so easily. I had an argument in my head and everything." He had already devised a list of pros and cons as to why they should play; honestly, he just wanted something to do, and torturing Hunter was one of his favourite pastimes.

"Just ask a fucking question, Smythe."

"Give me a second to think of one... Well, one that doesn't involve me asking how you lost your virginity."

Hunter sighed. "I was fifteen and it was on the floor at a house party. The girl was eighteen, we were both drunk, and we went into the study. We literally fucked on the floor, and she leaked onto the carpet. It was shit, and I had carpet burn on my knees for a week. I definitely didn't understand the appeal of sex from that experience."

Sebastian burst out laughing. "Oh my god. That... that is too good." He shook his head, rubbing his face with his hands. Images of a much-younger Hunter filled his mind and he couldn't stop laughing. He knew obviously things had improved in Hunter's sex life; they'd been rooming together for years, and Hunter had definitely taken girls home before. And he'd definitely heard them either faking orgasms or genuinely enjoying themselves in his presence so... he assumed Hunter had figured things out. He managed to ease his chuckles when he said "Well, that's all well and good, but I didn't actually ask you how you lose your virginity."

"Too bad. I counted it as a question. Does this make it my go?"

"Fine, fine. Ask away, Cap'n!"

Hunter apparently had a question lined up. "What's your favourite colour?"

Sebastian stopped, wincing when the sudden movement caused a twinge of pain in his leg. "No, that's lame. You can't ask something like that."

"Why not? I want to know."

"Worst question ever..." Sebastian muttered. "It's blue."

"Boring."

"Well, the question was boring."

"Fine, fine. I'll try to think of a better one."

"My go!" Sebastian tapped his chin for a moment before asking "Why did you choose to go to NYU and then Columbia instead of into the military? You clearly like that kind of lifestyle, and honestly seem to live it a little. So... why?"

Hunter was silent for a long minute, to the point that Sebastian almost asked if he'd heard him right, or if he was just being ignored. Eventually, Hunter sighed and said, "I guess... because of you."

That stopped Sebastian outright in his tracks; he didn’t even feel the burst of pain he knew would be shooting through his injuries. "Because of me, Mr Not-Bi-Curious?"

"One, it was not-even-a-little-bi-curious. Two, I don't mean that in the romantic sense. It's just that all my life, I'd been doing a lot of this stuff for my parents. And then I met you... you were kind of the most hedonistic asshole I'd ever met. It was frustrating as fuck but... you seemed to thoroughly enjoy things and actually seemed genuinely happy. And..." he shrugged. "I kind of realised I wanted to do things because I wanted to, not because my parents wanted me to. So... I went to college instead of into the military."

"Because I was hedonistic... you went to college, instead of the military..." Sebastian mulled it over in his mind. "I can deal with that."

“Whatever. Okay. My go. Is your mom actually a hippy?”

Sebastian rolled his eyes. “What? No! She has four degrees-”

“In what? Women’s studies, Gender Studies, Organic Food and French?”

“Oh, you’re fucking hilarious. No, she has a Bachelor of Science, Masters in Biological Science, Bachelor of Anthropology and an MD.”

“Wait, what? Your mom’s a doctor?”

Sebastian raised his eyebrow. “Um, yes? Has been all my life?”

“No way. She wore tie-dye the last time I met her.”

“So she likes colours.”

“She never fed you anything but organic food. She didn’t get you vaccinated!”

“Well, yeah, she’s a doctor, she knows the kind of shit that goes into them, and into our foods.”

“Your house didn’t have a television, and everything was all… environmentally friendly! There was incense in the house! And the walls were covered in like… positive shit! No parents do that kind of thing, unless they’re hippies!”

Sebastian shrugged. He was completely right. “So she wanted me to grow up in a positive environment. That’s not a bad thing.”

“No, but it makes her a hippy.”

“It makes her a parent who actually wanted her kid to grow up happy.”

“Yeah, and no normal parents wants that, unless that parent is a hippy.”

“Fine.” Sebastian argued. “She might be a hippy. But that doesn’t change the fact that she’s ridiculously well educated. Besides, she always wears shoes in public, and she washes her hair.” He elected not to mention that he knew she washed her hair with organic products that she made herself, some of which she even grew in their backyard. The less Hunter knew; the better.

“...I can’t believe she’s a doctor,” Hunter muttered.

“My turn!” Sebastian announced abruptly. “Who do you want to sleep with? Ian Somerhalder or Matt Bomer?”

“Neither.”

“You can’t do that. You have to answer one.”

“Well, I don’t want to sleep with either of them.”

“You’re ruining this game, Hunter.”

“Do I need to remind you that I didn’t want to play in the first place?”

“C’mon, just say one.”

“I’m really not interested in sleeping with either of them though,” Hunter protested. “Fuck, I dunno, Ian Somerhalder?”

Sebastian smirked. “He’s fantastic, isn’t he?”

“Not really,” Hunter huffed. “Besides, you didn’t give me much variety. They both have dark hair and blue eyes.”

“I can give you variety next time.”

“Please don’t stress yourself,” Hunter muttered. “Is it my go now?”

“Yup! Hit me with your best shot.” Sebastian grinned.

“Who would you rather sleep with? Lauren Cohan, incidentally from the Walking Dead, or Nina Dobrev of The Vampire Diaries, if we’re going that route.”

“Lauren Cohan. Any day.” Sebastian said instantly. It had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that he thought Lauren and Hunter could pass as siblings any day. That was simply… coincidence.

“Really?”

“She has nice eyes. Plus… she looks kind of like fun. I’d probably break Nina. Just because I don’t have sex with girls doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate them. She has an awesome butt.”

Hunter gave an “ugh” sound. “Fine. Your go.”

“Misha Collins or Jensen Ackles? Who would you rather bang?”

Hunter turned and glared at Sebastian for a long minute, his eyes boring into Sebastian’s. It made him uncomfortable, and he tried not to squirm under the gaze, focussing instead on holding it until Hunter sighed and said, “Jensen Ackles.”

“Really? But… Misha Collins, man. I mean… his eyes.”

“I know.”

“But… Jensen, really?”

“Yes. Now drop it.”

Sebastian smirked. “Fine, fine.”

“Karen Gillan, or… Barbara Palvin?”

“That’s the supermodel you like, right?”

“Right.”

“Her. Barbara. Again. Super nice butt. Very nice eyes.”

"Well, I have to say, you have taste. She's hot as hell."

"Yeah... let's go with that." Sebastian wrinkled his nose in distaste. "What's it like to go down on a girl?"

Hunter stopped dead in his tracks. "Please tell me I just imagined that. Please tell me you did not ask me what it's like to go down on a girl."

Sebastian chuckled. "Nope. I definitely asked. It's my turn to ask you, and I asked what it's like to go down on a girl."

Hunter groaned, running a hand over his face. Sebastian was certain he had to be imagining it, but... it looked like Hunter was actually going red in the face. "You really want to know? You sure you want that to be your question?"

"Yup. It's not like I'm ever going to experience, nor do I particularly want to. It seems... kind of gross. What's it like?" Sebastian admitted, again wrinkling his nose. He hardly liked boobs, and the idea of being between a girls legs... Penises... Those were nice. They made sense, they were pretty easy to understand, and honestly, he liked looking at them. Vaginas... Fuck, he didn't even want to think about all of the complexities of that situation.

Hunter had started walking again and seemed to be struggling with his words for what had to be the first time in his life. Finally, he said "Wet."

"Wet?"

"Yes. You asked what it was like. It's wet."

"Eww."

"Not really. It's kind of awesome. I mean... it's... a bit wet, or really wet, depending how horny she is. So wet. And if you're doing it right, it's messy. And if you're really good at it, she'll close her thighs around your head."

Sebastian recoiled slightly at the thought. "Wet..." He repeated, pulling a face. "So... it gets on your face."

"Absolutely fucking everywhere. Well, that is assuming you actually know what you're doing and she's enjoying it." Hunter gave Sebastian an evil grin and stuck his tongue out, licking the air, and then wiped the lower half of his face with his forearm, obviously indicating his post-cunnilingus ritual.

"That's fucking gross..." Sebastian muttered.

"It's fucking delightful, actually. Some girls, I tell you, they taste like fucking honey or something, and just shove your face into it and ride your face and-"

"Okay, okay, I get it! Geeze. I didn't ask for a description." Sebastian muttered, expression one of severe disdain. No. Definitely didn't sound fun at all. Hunter, meanwhile, was grinning wickedly at him. "I really hope you weren't trying to sell that to me, because I think I'm less into women than I was before. And that was like... two percent into women."

Hunter shrugged, his teasing grin still spread across his face. "More for me." He waggled his tongue again before his grin dropped slightly. "I guess fair is fair. What's it like to go down on a guy?"

"Well, you definitely don't get crap all over your face." Sebastian sassed.

"Oh come on, you cannot tell me that jizz tastes good." Hunter countered, chuckling.

"Doesn't have to. It's not all over your fucking face."

"Well, at least going down on a girl tastes good."

"Oh my god..." Sebastian breathed. "You know, I never thought somebody could give me too much information. But you have, somehow, succeeded. Congratulations."

Hunter grinned wolfishly. "I'll be sure to put mark this day down in my scrap book." He paused, before turning back to Sebastian. "Okay, so you told me jizz doesn't taste good, and it doesn't get all over your face. Well maybe not with the way you give head. Because some of the girls who gave me head have ended up with it over their faces..."

Sebastian shook his head, laughing. "God I hate it when guys jizz on my face. It's not hot."

"It really is. Except when it ruins their make up and you have to see the face underneath."

Sebastian laughed at that. "It's really not hot. But… okay, no jizz on your face. Honestly giving head is awesome."

"Really?"

"Yes. Getting to make someone fall apart with your mouth... it's fucking awesome. Plus, they have to trust you. I mean, that many teeth on your most delicate bits? That's fun. And... it's fucking amazing when they run their fingers through your hair and start fucking your face."

"Yeah. And then they proceed to choke you. Thanks, but I'll pass."

Sebastian snorted. "Only amateurs choke. You just relax your jaw and let them have at it. It's incredible, frankly. And it doesn't always taste that bad."

"Something tells me that you don't mind being shoved around."

"I don't." Sebastian admitted with a casual shrug. "Power play is fun."

"What about ropes and whips?"

"Yes to the ropes. Yes to floggers. No to actual whips." Sebastian told him with a wink.

Sebastian saw Hunter's eyebrows rise at that. "Really now?"

"As for the rest of it... you'll have to fuck me to find that out." He winked at Hunter, sashaying his hips slightly as he walked.

"Whatever, man."

"Your go." Sebastian shot back with a wink.

With the game in full force, and more and more facts being carefully extricated from the other (when they discovered porn, how long they believed in Santa Claus for, and if they’d ever bang a teacher), walking became easier. Sebastian hardly noticed his injuries, too busy focussing on finding out more and more facts about Hunter, ideally ones that could be later used for blackmailing purposes.

When they stopped for the night, three afternoons later, Sebastian was pretty convinced he’d seen Hunter smiling and laughing more in the past three days than he had in the past six years. It didn’t even occur to him until he actually saw Hunter smiling and laughing that he realised how rare it was to see him do that outside of the influence of alcohol. For someone who was friends with a hedonist such as Sebastian, it was somewhat strange to realise he never seemed all that happy.

The nights weren’t getting easier. In theory, the weather was supposed to be warming up given that it was late March now. The days were pleasant, leaving the boys without their coats most days but the nights remained unbearably bitter for Sebastian. Hunter continued to be unaffected by the coldness, but Sebastian was getting grumpier with each passing day and his decreased average nightly hours.

Tonight was the coldest yet, he was certain of that. Even Hunter had grabbed a second coat, pulling his hood over his head in an effort to keep warm. Sebastian was already wrapped in a blanket and curled in as physically close to the fire as he could be without catching himself alight. His body ached with the cold, and any inch of skin not in direct line with the waves of warmth felt even colder in comparison.

Sebastian frowned to himself and shifted back from the fire. Maybe if he were a little further away, the cold out here wouldn’t seem so… well, cold. It didn’t seem to make a difference, so he shifted a little further back, until he could barely feel the licks of warmth.

“Bit hot?” Hunter asked Sebastian with a weary smile. He’d probably say it was bedtime soon.

Sebastian shook his head, his teeth chattering too violently for him to speak without stumbling over his words. He didn’t need Hunter to know how fucking cold he was though, so staying silent was the best course of action.

Slowly, he felt his body start to warm up slightly. It was quite pleasant. He must have been a lot more tired than he originally suspected, because all he wanted to do was lie down. The ground wasn’t that comfortable, but right then, it was the comfiest thing he’d ever lain on. He couldn’t feel the scratches on his body. His head felt heavy and god, he was so tired. He’d join Hunter in the tent in a bit; for now, he just really wanted a nap. God, a nap was the greatest idea he’d had in a long time.

Somewhere in the distance, he heard Hunter ask “Time for bed, Smythe?”

Sebastian didn’t say anything, feeling far too heavy to say anything. Yes, it was time for bed. Or a nap. He just wanted a little one.

“Sebastian,” Hunter’s voice sounded far away and Sebastian grumbled softly. “Sebastian.” No, fuck off Hunter, he just wanted to nap. He felt a hand on his shoulder, and he swatted at it uselessly. Damn it, he just wanted to sleep. He’d help clean up dinner in a bit. He hadn’t eaten dinner, but he figured it would only be fair to help clean up. It wasn’t Hunter’s fault he hadn’t been hungry.

“Sebastian!” He wanted to tell Hunter to shut up, that he just wanted to sleep, but the words got stuck in his mouth. His tongue felt too big to speak, so he just mumbled and lay on his arm, curling his head into the crook of it as he used it as a pillow.

Nothing felt cold; it was nice. He finally felt warm again. Now, he just had to let the heaviness take him into sleep.

In the distance, he heard Hunter cursing and felt him fumbling around. Sebastian watched his through lidded eyes, barely making out what he was doing in the darkness, his back covering the light of the fire, casting shadows over his entire front as Hunter knelt over Sebastian’s body.

He felt himself being shifted, in the far away distance heard the sound of a sleeping bag being unzipped, heard Hunter cursing. Oh, he was being moved around. He weakly shoved against Hunter, who was pulling and pushing him around. No, he didn’t want to move, he wanted to fucking  _sleep_.

And then… scorching. Hunter was beside him then, arms winding around him. A hand went to his hair, burning fingers burying themselves against his scalp, bringing his head to rest in the crook of Hunter’s neck. Oh, his neck was hot against Sebastian’s nose. The other hand simply wrapped around his waist, pulling him impossibly close. He sighed, not minding this so much. He could fall asleep like this. Oh, and there was the familiar smell of his sleeping bag. Yes, definitely sleeping time now.

Sebastian didn’t realise how cold he was until he started warming up. Somehow, despite Hunter wrapping around him, Sebastian started shivering violently again, mind becoming slightly more alert. He heard Hunter breathe a sigh of relief. Sebastian’s teeth chattered so he buried his face into Hunter’s neck, smelling the soft scent of his soap, taking a strange kind of comfort in it.

His body started to ache and clench uncomfortably from the effort it was going through to shiver, but… god, it was so nice to feel kind of warm around. His cuts started throbbing again, but they didn’t burn so that was a nice change. Puffs of air were coming in short, sharp gasps, difficult to draw in a deep one.

He didn’t know how long he curled into Hunter, shivering, until eventually… it eased. The violent shaking eased and he felt warm, legitimately warm. The whole while, Hunter’s hands ran through his hair, fingertips running along Sebastian’s scalp soothingly.

“Mmm, if I’d known that it only took half-freezing to death to get you in bed with me,” Sebastian rasped eventually, a tease in his voice. His voice was muffled by Hunter’s jacket, but he knew Hunter had probably heard him.

He heard a rumble in Hunter’s throat and felt it against his forehead where he had it pressed. “Shut up,” Hunter said softly into Sebastian’s hair, his warm breath sinking into the top of Sebastian’s head. “That was legitimate. You were hypothermic. You dropped out of consciousness for about twenty minutes!”

“Really?”

“No, I’m totally kidding,” Hunter bit sarcastically.

“How… long have we been lying here?”

“Well over an hour.”

“I do not remember that at all. It felt like a couple of minutes.”

“Well, it wasn’t.” Hunter’s tone was harsh.

Sebastian just rubbed his face into Hunter’s neck and shifted closer. Now that he was a little more aware, he noticed that Hunter had dragged one of their sleeping bags outside, tucking Sebastian between himself and the fire, wrapping them both tightly in the bag. Worrying situations aside, it was actually entirely pleasant right then, being trapped between a small fire and a warm, hard body.

“Isn’t there something about taking off clothes to keep people warm?” he joked.

He was surprised to feel Hunter nod beside him and wanted to laugh when Hunter responded in full seriousness “You were kind of uncoordinated, not really responding to me. Taking your clothes off would have been too hard just then.”

“Speaking of hard…” Sebastian chuckled, pressing his half-hard cock to Hunter’s thigh. To be honest, he wasn’t all that horny. But he was lying beside Hunter, clutching desperately, and he hadn’t gotten laid in just under two weeks. It was mostly a physical reaction, one of two warm bodies pressed together, but he if could get away with it, he was going to take advantage of it.

Hunter said nothing but stunned Sebastian by lifting his thigh slightly, rubbing it slightly against Sebastian’s groin. He made only the barest movements, shifting his leg up and down the length and Sebastian groaned into Hunter’s neck, mouth attaching to Hunter’s warm skin.

“Unless you intend to finish the job, don’t do that,” Sebastian advised, hoping desperately that Hunter would finish it. He might have been unconscious just an hour before, but right now he felt a primal need to get off, as hard and as fast as possible.

Instead of pulling away as Sebastian expected, Hunter moved with aching slowness so that he was all but on top of Sebastian, one thigh between Sebastian’s, his own groin pressing into Sebastian’s.

_Oh_.

Sebastian wasn’t the only one that was hard, apparently. Sebastian pulled Hunter down against him, hard, ignoring the sharp bite of pain that shot through several places. Hunter had apparently not been expecting that, and landed a little heavily against Sebastian. Sebastian couldn’t have cared less, still needing to cling to the warmth. He thrust his hips up, determined to get himself off as quickly as possible. Hunter surprised him by pressing back, his cock pressing hard into Sebastian’s hip through his pants.

He started rutting a little harder, his fingers clawing around to Hunter’s shoulders, gripping his coat tightly between his fingers. His hips found a rhythm quickly, grinding himself furiously against Hunter’s thigh. Hunter didn’t seem to mind in the slightest, his own movements just as hurried and frantic. His head was buried in Sebastian’s neck, his small gasps and deep-throated rumbles loud against Sebastian’s ears. One of Hunter’s hands was on Sebastian’s shoulder, holding him firmly in place after one of Hunter’s thrusts dislodged them both temporarily; the other gripped the material just under Sebastian’s head. Sebastian felt his hand clenching and unclenching, his thrusts moving back to sharp grinding, his breathing increase and the little sounds he made in the back of his throat became slightly louder, a little more frantic.

Never one to finish last, Sebastian allowed himself to get swallowed in the movements, the feel of Hunter rutting against him, the heat racing through every part of his body now. His mind was becoming dizzy with pleasure, and after several too-soon minutes, he was tensing, pressing up against Hunter’s thigh with one final thrust. Hunter apparently followed him quickly after, his whole body tensing for several seconds before he eased himself back down onto Sebastian. He only allowed himself a small respite before rolling off of him, but curling back into his side. They lay in silence for minutes, the only sounds being their soft breathing and the crackle of the fire.

“Never took you as a cuddler,” Sebastian teased sleepily.

“I’m not. But you got hypothermic before and now I’m concerned if I leave you, you’ll die in your sleep or something.”

Sebastian grinned. “We should at least clean up. My pants are sticky.”

Cleaning up without exposing himself to the cold air was difficult, but Sebastian managed. As Hunter put out the fire, he literally crawled into the little tent, cleaning up the sticky mess in his pants with some difficulty.

“I hope you know that given your behaviour before, I’m going to be sharing your sleeping bag,” Hunter informed Sebastian as he crawled into the tent.

“My behaviour?” Sebastian queried, quirking an eyebrow.

“Yes. The hypothermia. You’re not dying on my watch.”

“And there was me thinking you were talking about the mutual orgasm thing. Seriously, we should make that a thing.”

“Shut up, Sebastian.” Hunter growled as he unzipped Sebastian’s sleeping bag, and somehow fitted them both inside. He tugged his own sleeping bag over the top of them, providing an extra layer and apparently covering his back, left exposed by the sleeping bags small space.

Sebastian curled onto his side, giving into temptation to bury his head against the side of Hunter’s arm. He didn’t cuddle; he just really wanted the warmth.

“Thanks for, uh, not letting me die," Sebastian mumbled as he fell asleep.

“Any time. Idiot.” 


	5. Chapter 5

_Day 11 to 12_

Waking up beside Hunter was never  _not_  going to be weird, Sebastian realised as he slowly came to in the morning. He’d anticipated several times through college that they’d sleep together, had actually fully expected it to happen on several occasions (and had been somewhat disappointed when they hadn’t). In all of the scenarios that landed them in bed together, none of them resulted in a particularly pleasant morning after, and for that reason he’d always been kind of glad that they hadn’t jumped into bed before. Sure, he was disappointed that he’d never get to lick Hunter’s gorgeous abs, but at least he got to minimise the awkwardness. Morning after awkwardness didn’t really bother Sebastian, unless it was your oldest and best friend and roommate. Then, it should probably be avoided.

As he’d suspected, waking up to Hunter wrapped around him was  _weird._  Admittedly, given how awfully he’d been sleeping for the past week and a half, it was nice to wake up and not feel like he’d been hit by a truck. Hunter’s presence in his sleeping bag had kept him warm throughout the night. Normally someone sleeping beside Sebastian left him grumpy from lack of sleep; someone else’s movements woke him every single time. He suspected his body had finally had enough last night because he actually felt almost well-rested. He’d gone to bed exhausted from his small fight with hypothermia and warm from Hunter’s body. The warmth of a body beside him meant that his muscles didn’t ache from shaking all night and even his wounds weren’t throbbing as violently as they could have been. Overall, the physical response to sleeping beside Hunter wasn’t awful.

It was the mental part that was weird as fuck. He’d never taken Hunter for a cuddler, and that much was evident right then. Whilst his whole body was pressed against Sebastian’s side, his arms were tucked firmly into his chest. He was making contact, but not curled into Sebastian. He couldn’t put his finger on what was weird exactly, but… something about it was just unusual. It definitely wasn’t the morning wood he felt pressing his thigh, but that definitely didn’t help to normalise the situation.

When Sebastian shifted slightly, trying to ease himself out of the sleeping bag so that he could go to the bathroom (or rather, go pee on a tree; goddamn this camping thing was weird and kind of awful), Hunter stirred, a deep grumbling sound stirring in his throat. Sebastian watched as his eyes slowly eased open, looking blearily at him through half-lidded eyes. Hunter closed his eyes again, sinking his head back into the warmth. He exhaled slowly.

Eventually, Hunter grumbled. “This is weird.”

“Very,” Sebastian said with a chuckle.

He felt Hunter stretch lengthways beside him. “In the pro-column, however, is the fact that I actually slept last night. Didn’t have to listen to your damn shivering all night.”

“Well we apparently both benefitted from the whole situation.” He winked at Hunter before easing himself up onto his elbows.

“Mm,” Hunter agreed, his expression creasing as he seemed to be recalling other mutually beneficial moments that had occurred the night prior. He seemed to be drifting in that memory before clearing his throat, taking the conversation in a much more family-friendly direction. “We should be able to reach Indianapolis late this afternoon. We can break into another hotel, raid for some food, who knows, maybe find some place with running water.”

Sebastian let himself fall back, his arm falling into Hunter’s chest. “God, a shower would be amazing.”

“I’m not counting on it-”

“Nor am I,” Sebastian added forlornly.

“-But it would be nice.”

Sebastian nodded. They’d been heating up water and doing only basic “bird bathing”, and using baby wipes. It was definitely not Sebastian’s favourite way of washing. The problem they’d faced with water wasn’t just that many places required the water plants to be functioning, but also that the water that sat in pipes for countless days were often filthy. It didn’t help that they saw far too many rotting bodies in water sources around and didn’t want to rely on the filtering system of the cities anymore.

“Alright, get up,” Hunter ordered, shoving Sebastian lightly. “It’s one thing to share a sleeping bag; it’s another to engage in morning pillow talk.”

Sebastian grinned and inched himself out of the warmth of the sleeping bag as Hunter moved to the side. “You’re just upset that you enjoyed it so much.”

Hunter simply rolled his eyes at Sebastian and threw the sleeping bag off, apparently done with the conversation and moving on with his day. Sebastian slipped out of the tent and stretched as best he could whilst still wrapped in a blanket. The morning was warming up a little now, the sun already well overhead. He was surprised that Hunter had allowed them both to sleep so late.

He turned over to Hunter, who was now fully dressed, boots and all, and relighting their fire with practised ease.

"Why'd you let us sleep in?"

Hunter shrugged. "Mix of an accident and also... between you half dying last night, we were up very late. I don't know about you, but I was tired and wanted some damn sleep." He frowned slightly and shrugged again. "Besides, we're not that far from Indianapolis. Are you complaining? Because I can definitely go back to those dawn wake-up calls."

Sebastian shook his head, smiling slightly. "No, I'll be fine."

"Good. Then don't question me."

Sebastian sat down beside the fire. "Truth?" He asked with relative tentativeness (well, tentative for him at any rate). Hunter nodded, bringing his knees up a little and resting his elbows on them. "On a scale of 1 to 10, how awkward are you going to be now?"

Hunter sighed. "I'm a healthy, twenty-three year old man, who acted in full consciousness of my actions. Assuming you don't start spouting confessions of love or writing bad poetry about the amazingness of my dick, things won't be awkward at all."

"I never was very good at poetry. Or love confessions." Sebastian winked.

"Good. Then it won't be awkward."

Sebastian nodded. He didn't normally have these conversations, but the men he generally slept with were more often than not strangers, men he left in their beds not even a few hours after they'd finished fucking. He didn't exactly have that liberty with Hunter.

Indianapolis came into sight in the late afternoon. Shadows were already creeping across the ground and by the time they made it somewhat into the city, darkness had fallen. This time, Sebastian let Hunter lead the way. Neither of them had been to Indianapolis before, but he at least trusted Hunter to not lead them into a hoard as Sebastian had last time. He swore it was an accident, and as soon as he recovered enough to run at speed again, he'd go back to fighting Hunter for leading them around. But for now, as he limped around and his stitches itched, he was content to let Hunter take the responsibility.

Before they slipped into a hotel for the night, Hunter found them another military surplus store, and cried out victoriously when he found what looked to Sebastian like a metal pot.

"I don't get it." Sebastian said, unimpressed.

"It's called a Trangia."

"Still don't get it."

"Look, it'll save us from having to light fires to heat food. It means we can cook tonight in the hotel room, okay? Just be happy about it."

"I'm positively thrilled," Sebastian lied, his sarcasm obvious.

"You will be," Hunter said as he stuffed the little metal thing in his bag with a proud grin.

After grabbing more food rations, they slipped out into the night. It was cold and blustering outside and Sebastian shuddered at the thought of being as cold as he was last night again. He found himself inadvertently hiding behind Hunter as they walked, trying to escape the wind chill factor as well as the cold night in general.

When the wind picked up ferociously as they stepped into a wind tunnel, Hunter reached behind him and grabbed Sebastian's arms, tugging him faster towards their destination. Thankfully, Hunter seemed to have a place in mind and they found it quickly. After sealing the doors and slowly investigating several levels, finding them clear (the town had been strangely clear of Infected, something Sebastian would remind himself to be bothered about later), they barricaded themselves into a room on the fifth floor. The room this time was a large suite, with a bathtub. 

After dropping his bag on one of the double beds, Sebastian collected as many blankets from other rooms as he could physically carry and dragged them back to the bedroom. There was no way he was going to freeze again tonight. He kicked off his boots, lying back on the bed with a sigh whilst Hunter carefully stripped off his excess layers. Sebastian drained the last of his water with a sigh and wandered aimlessly into the bathroom in the hopes that he might be able to squeeze a few drops from the taps.

On a whim, Sebastian ran some water into the large bathtub and grinned when it came out clear and not smelling awful. When he tested the hot water, he was almost delighted when it started to burn his hand. He tried not to get his hopes up too far, but he called out to Hunter somewhat excitedly.

Hunter sauntered into the room, hands in his pockets. “Huh. The water is running,” he remarked. “Hold on, I’ll go get the tester.”

Thus far on their trip, they hadn’t found many places with independent water supplies. They were often able to fill their water bottles, get enough water to drink, but in most cases they’d found the water filthy and undrinkable due to sitting in old pipes for days, or just simply lacking in water pressure due to the lack of power in town.

It was obvious just how excited they were when they sat cross-legged in the bathroom, waiting for the results to come out. Neither of the men tried to show it, but the fact that they waited beside the slowly filling tub and the water testing kit spoke volumes.

When the test results came back clean, Hunter’s face broke into a grin, relief obvious on his face. “Thank god. Baths. Both of us. You can take this bathtub. I’ll go to another room and have one myself.”

Sebastian nodded enthusiastically. The hotel still looked as if no world had changed outside. There were clean towels folded above the bathtub, little bottles of shampoo and body wash lined the basin, and he poured them excitedly into the steaming water. Bubbles started forming quickly, and Sebastian rushed to turn the taps off, the metal screeching as he did so.

As he sank into the bath, he actually moaned. He’d never understood people doing that before, but right then the burning heat of the water felt better than any orgasm he’d had before. His muscles seized slightly from the heat of it, but then relaxed as he got used to the temperature. The bubbles rose up around him as he felt the water rush over his body. Oh my god, he was pretty sure he was actually dying. Yes, it aggravated his healing wounds, but he didn’t care. It was wonderful, magical hot water sinking over his cold, sore body. He very nearly found himself crying.

Sebastian lay back in the bath, bemoaning the fact that he was far too long for the little tub, but far too blissed out to actually care that much. His knees stuck out of the water, the height of the bubbles concealing them from his eyes. He laid his head back against the cool porcelain and groaned heavily. Oh god, this was possibly the greatest thing he’d ever felt.

Without precursor, he dropped his head below the water, letting it rush through his hair, over his face. He blew water out through his nose, letting his chest sink as he expelled air. The water felt incredible around him, easing the aches in his muscles and bones, giving him warmth he hadn’t felt since he and Hunter had started their journey west. He listened to the soft drip of the water, the sounds of the water lapping at the edge of the bath, almost letting it soothe him to sleep.

The water was cold by the time Sebastian dragged himself from its comforting embrace, his muscles finally feeling pleasantly relaxed. He’d rubbed his shoulders and back, letting them relax under the water, the heat sinking deep into his skin. His skin was pruned, but he didn’t care. He rubbed the mirror to clear the fog off of it and grimaced. He’d never been all that good at growing facial hair, and his stubble was spattered and splotchy at best. Having access to hot water, he elected to take advantage of it and took his time shaving his face carefully with one of the shitty disposable razors the hotel provided.

By the time he emerged from the bathroom, clean-shaven, teeth-brushed and every inch of him clean, Hunter was dawdling his way back into the room, hair damp and sticking at a thousand angles. He’d also apparently taken the opportunity to shave, the mess of stubble gone from his face. Sebastian wasn’t sure what it was about the situation, but in that moment, he was certain he’d never found Hunter so painfully attractive.

It could have been the smirk, the freshly cleaned smell, the lack of potential for sex with anyone else, desperation, or simply the fact that he was reminded again of how fucking _good_  Hunter looked… Either way, Sebastian wouldn’t have minded dropping to his knees in an instant.

Hunter dropped his dirty clothing onto the top of his bag, cracked his neck gently as he stood. He was wearing only a black tank and his fatigues and his skin was flushed from the obvious heat of the bath he’d just taken. Frankly, he looked so good it made Sebastian honestly start to salivate. Hunter quirked an eyebrow at Sebastian and for a long moment, they just stared at each other.

The tension in the room rose and Sebastian felt that if he had a knife on hand, he’d literally be able to cut it. His pants started to feel a little tight and heat rushed through his body, although it was definitely different from the heat of the tub. Eventually, Hunter looked away, clearing his throat. Sebastian smirked as he noticed the front of Hunter’s pants had started filling out as well.

“I’m not hungry.” Sebastian said slowly, dragging his sleeping bag out and tossing it onto the bed.

Hunter swallowed. “Can’t say I am either. I think… sleep… would be an excellent idea.”

“Yes. Sleep,” Sebastian agreed, swallowing and desperately trying to bring some moisture to his dry mouth.

“Um, we wouldn’t want you to get cold again.” Hunter said as he slid out of his fatigues and neatly folded them over his bags. He was wearing tight black trunks and Sebastian leered openly, his smirk widening. Sebastian dropped his own pants with much less care, and slid under the pile of blankets he’d set up on the bed. He found himself almost close to sweating, his skin still overly hot from the bath he’d taken, the blankets insulating his warmth quite easily. Hunter blew out the candles they’d set up in the room and in the darkness, made his way across the room and with little preamble, slid under the blankets beside Sebastian.

For a few minutes, they simply lay beside each other, hesitated a glance and then... Hunter was there over him, pressing his hips against Sebastian's thigh again, grinding himself into full hardness. Sebastian rolled onto his side slightly so he could afford himself some of his own delicious friction. The past two weeks had been sexless, free even of morning wood most days, but now that he had reawakened his sex drive, he was keen to get as much out of it as possible.

He slipped an arm up behind Hunter's back, pulling him closer, head falling back onto the bed as he thrust his hips up against him, groan low in his throat. His underwear felt tight, constricting against him, and after a brief second to think about it, he dropped his arms from Hunter's body and slipped them down to his hips, shoving his underwear down to midthigh. His hands scrabbled to get Hunter’s singlet up and over his head, and he discarded it somewhere over their heads, nails dragging gently down the skin of Hunter’s back as he explored.

Hunter seemed to think this was a good idea, because he tore Sebastian's own underwear down and off of his body before scrabbling to get his own off, leaving them down the bottom of the nest of blankets. They both let out involuntary groans of satisfaction and relief the second the pressed together. Sebastian’s dick rubbed against Hunter’s thigh, Hunter’s own hard dick pressed into Sebastian’s uninjured thigh. He reached his arm around Hunter's back, pulling him in close again. His nails were digging into the muscled flesh of Hunter's back, his head dropping back as he sought to build a rhythm to bring himself off.

It was good, so good. He didn't care if they weren't kissing; Sebastian had never been much of a kisser anyway, and this was just about sex. It was about getting themselves off and ridding themselves of the tension that was building between them, so electric that he felt sparks and snapping in the air around them.

Hunter was grunting slightly beside him, fucking his hips against Sebastian's thigh with an urgency Sebastian could understand. God, Sebastian wanted to touch it, taste him, feel him all around, but for now... now he just needed a fucking orgasm.

"Can I fuck you?" Hunter all but gasped, head buried in Sebastian's neck, biting down on his skin.

Sebastian groaned. "God, yes."

With the permission, Hunter quickly pushed himself up and off of Sebastian and manhandled him around onto his stomach, hands finding Sebastian's hips and bringing his ass in the air. Sebastian tore his shirt off and settled himself more comfortably, spreading his knees to provide better access and balance, considering fucking on elbows and knees before pushing himself onto his hands. It'd make a better angle that way, even if he risked losing balance if Hunter fucked him hard, or Hunter’s hands accidentally grabbing his injuries. Fuck it, he didn’t care.

"Fuck," he groaned, suddenly realising their lack of preparedness. Condoms hadn't exactly been high on the list of priorities. Nor had lube. "You clean?"

"Of course I'm clean, you idiot,” Hunter ground out, laying his body across the back of Sebastian's. His skin was deliciously warm against Sebastian's back, his chest and stomach hair free and smooth, soft even, over the muscles.

"Last time you got tested?" Sebastian may have slept around, but he was always extremely careful about safe sex. He was young and hot; he didn't need to be dying of HIV or developing genital warts or something. They didn't have condoms then, but Sebastian's last test had come back clean. If Hunter was clean, they could probably afford to get away with fucking without a condom.

"I've never not used a condom, and I got tested in February, before my birthday. You?"

"Never not used a condom. Tested a few weeks ago. Clean as a whistle."

As Hunter spoke, Sebastian pushed himself up a little, spitting on his fingers and coating them thickly with saliva. He reached behind himself, spreading the saliva, and pressing gently inside of himself. He took a finger with surprising ease, despite the only lube being spit.

"Fuck," Hunter groaned, already sounding wrecked. Sebastian pulled his finger out, breathed a sigh to relax himself and settled himself more firmly on his knees, wiggling his ass at Hunter.

"Just fucking do it, and try to avoid the cuts will you?" Sebastian muttered, desperate to have Hunter inside of him. He heard Hunter spit discreetly on his hands, could hear him adding more saliva to his cock and then he felt delicious pressure at his ass. Hunter started pressing inside, slow, body shaking softly. "Slow; spit isn't the best lubricant..." Sebastian breathed, bearing down against Hunter's cock to bring him inside. Hunter went slowly, and Sebastian could hear him taking shaking breaths, could feel in his hands the way he was struggling not to just fuck himself into Sebastian.

When Hunter's hips met the back of Sebastian's thighs, he groaned a sigh of relief. God, trust Sebastian to get an impressively large cock in his ass the first time he doesn't have lube handy. But... fuck, it felt amazing. The stretch, the burn, the pressure... It was all there, and he felt dizzy with pleasure. Hunter slipped his hands around Sebastian's stomach, up over his chest and then back to his hips, getting a firm hold. He took a small tentative thrust, barely pulling out more than a bare inch or two, pressing back inside. It was rough, the spit already drying, but Sebastian gave a muffled sound of pleasure into the pillow.

Hunter slowly built a rhythm, hips just barely pulling back before grinding himself back in. He rolled his hips gently against Sebastian's ass, the movements more of a grind than a thrust, but fuck if it wasn't incredible. As the pressure built, as they got closer, he felt Hunter's hands slip from his hips, up his stomach, up to his chest, bringing him up so that he was only on his knees, his back pressed into Hunter's chest. Sebastian leaned into it, eyes shut as they rolled back into his head, head falling back onto Hunter's shoulder, as they ground against each other. Closer now, he could hear the little groans deep in Hunter's throat, could hear and feel his little gasps of pleasure against his ear and neck. Oh god, he was fucking Hunter. After six years, Hunter Clarington had finally given in and was fucking him. If he were the kind of person to tell kinky sex stories to his grandkids, this would be one of the stories that would make it.

Sebastian let a hand fall to the bed, grasping the material as he whined softly, his other hand going to fist his cock. God, he had to get off. His skin felt tight, his mind dizzy with enjoyment, every part of his body tingling. His hand jerked around the head of his cock, the little beads of precome making the task easier, but still not enough to fully fuck his hand. It was fine, he was most sensitive around there and god, it became ten times more enjoyable with the hand around his cock.

"Fuck fuck fuck..." he breathed, finally gasping in release as he came, come spilling over his fingers, some dripping onto the bed below him. His world became white for a second, narrowed down to the feeling of Hunter grinding in his ass, the burning there, the heat in his stomach, the feeling of his hand on his cock. God, it hurt, but it was fucking perfect, giddy pleasure. Shit, why didn't he bottom more often?

"Oh fuck..." He heard Hunter groan into his ear, body tensing hard as he shoved himself a little harder into Sebastian, and Sebastian knew what the feeling of someone clenching around you as they came felt like. If fucking was good, feeling someone come around you was... mind-blowing. He knew Hunter must have been going mad with pleasure, and as his own spasms wore off, he felt Hunter finally reach his release. Hunter bit hard into his shoulder as he came and Sebastian hissed, but clenched his ass around Hunter, letting him enjoy it.

Eventually, it was just them on their knees, still except for their breathing. After several long minutes, after Sebastian felt Hunter starting to soften inside of him, he felt Hunter pull out slowly. Sebastian gave an involuntary hiss of pain; yeah, that was definitely going to be a bitch over the next few days, and he was pretty sure there was tearing. Oh, fuck, yes, definitely tearing, he thought dazedly as he felt some of Hunter's come drip a little, burning him in some places where he knew he must have been torn. Oh well, it wasn’t the first time this had happened.

He slowly lowered himself down onto the bed, lying on his side, stuck his hand out of the blankets and wiped it on the side of the bed, where it wouldn’t touch him. He saw Hunter do the same and then lay down beside him, facing Sebastian, eyes only half open.

Even after the haze of his orgasm wore off, Sebastian had to admit that Hunter looked incredible post-fuck. His skin was a soft shade of pink, brightest around the cheekbones, his eyes blurry and a light smile on his bitten-pink lips. The white blanket he’d pulled around his chest contrasted wonderfully with his golden skin, and Sebastian gave him a small, satisfied smirk.

Hunter frowned slightly, expression one of mild shame. “Um…” He frowned, seeming to struggle with his words, “did I hurt you?”

Sebastian quirked a curious eyebrow at him. “Did I start crying or something?” he teased.

Hunter looked abashed. “No. There… was a bit of blood.”

Sebastian blanched slightly. “Gross.” Well, if the literal pain in his ass hadn’t told him he’d torn, that certainly did. Great. “I’m fine. It’s no biggie.” Hunter didn’t look reassured in the slightest, instead frowning again. “Really. It’s happened before. It’ll take a few days to heal and then I’ll be good for another thorough fucking. Next time, though, I suggest we use lube.” He winked at Hunter and rolled onto his back.  Hunter said nothing about whether or not there would be a next time, which Sebastian took as a good sign.

Hunter shifted over slightly so that he was around Sebastian, manhandling Sebastian onto his side so that Hunter was spooned around him. “Seriously, you nearly died last night and it was exhausting…” Hunter muttered sleepily. “If you’re going to die, don’t keep me up for it.”

Sebastian chuckled. “I’ll do my best.” He let sleep start to take over. Post-sex talking was for losers anyway.

It was the second morning in a row that Sebastian woke up feeling well rested, and it was absolutely divine. His muscles didn't ache (though the second he shifted, he became aware of the pain in his ass), his wounds were slightly itchy, something he knew indicated they were well on their way to healing, and he was again, blissfully warm. As a general rule, Sebastian did not sleep well with someone beside him, much less wrapped around him, but he supposed exhaustion had changed things for him. Walking so much, fighting for their lives in a way, was probably wearing him out and sending him into deeper sleeps, allowing him to comfortably sleep with Hunter around him, when normally the mere presence of someone in his bed was enough to wake him. Hunter was half wrapped around Sebastian, his arm thrown across his chest, face buried in Sebastian's neck, leg between his. His breathing was soft against Sebastian's neck and he was relieved to hear that Hunter wasn't a snorer. Well, he might have been, but he definitely wasn't snoring right then.

Sebastian smirked sleepily and pressed his morning erection up against Hunter's thigh. Morning wood didn't always equal him necessarily being horny, it was often just a physical reaction but hey, if he could take care of it and get an orgasm to boot, he was absolutely not going to complain.

Hunter groaned in Sebastian's neck. "Now I know what girls were complaining about..." Hunter mumbled.

"Hmm?" Sebastian teased, genuinely not sure what he meant.

He felt Hunter's eyelashes flutter against his neck, tickling him. He wrinkled his nose to keep in his laugh. Hunter sighed and shoved his hip against Sebastian's thigh, rubbing his own erection firmly. "Getting woken up by a dude rubbing his boner on you is so not a fun wake-up call."

Sebastian snorted. "You sure you're a dude? You might just be the first guy I've ever heard complain about the idea of being woken with sex."

"'m tired." Hunter pointed out. "And," he thrust his hard on against Sebastian's hip more firmly, "I'm definitely a dude. But your ass is probably telling you that right about now."

Sebastian laughed and nodded, brought his hands down to Hunter's ass, making it easier for him to grind up and get some friction. Hunter rolled his hips slightly, shifted over Sebastian's body, lying himself across Sebastian. His head stayed buried in Sebastian's neck, the smoothness of his freshly shaved face rubbing into Sebastian's neck and shoulders. Little rumbles of enjoyment vibrated through his throat, resonating onto Sebastian's chest.

The next few minutes passed without words, just little sounds of enjoyment, slowly grinding themselves off against each other, small gasps and groans occasionally breaking the silence. Sebastian let his head fall back against the bed, Hunter absently nipping and biting his neck. Fuck, did Hunter know about Sebastian's neck fetish or something, because god, if he didn't, he was definitely close to finding out.

Hunter came first, a heavy sigh tumbling from his mouth as he came, wetness splashing onto Sebastian's hip and stomach. The added lubrication made it easier for Sebastian to thrust up and barely a minute later, fingers digging into Hunter's muscled ass, he came as well, biting his lip so hard that he was surprised the skin hadn't broken. For several languid minutes, Hunter lay against Sebastian, both of them catching their breath.

"I suppose getting woken with sex isn't the worst thing in the world," Hunter grinned, pushing himself up and off Sebastian eventually, expression creasing in disgust as their bodies stuck together from the combined come on their stomach. Sebastian looked down at it and wrinkled his nose, before his eyes shot up to Hunter's body. He'd never actually had the chance to see Hunter naked before, and he quickly absorbed as much as he could before Hunter pulled away fully.

God, if Sebastian hadn't been disappointed about Hunter's heterosexuality before, he definitely was now. He knew Hunter waxed just about every inch of his body, knew he took his swimming seriously, and while they'd been rubbing off together, he'd enjoyed the overall hairlessness of him and the smooth glide of his skin. Only a thatch of hair remained over his groin, neatly trimmed. Hunter was flaccid now, but... damn. Hot damn. He definitely had an aesthetically pleasing dick, that was for sure. He was cut (nice), and he knew from having had Hunter inside him that he was slightly thicker than the average man he fucked (also nice) and... damn. He just had a really nice (impressively large, the bastard) dick; he made a mental note to suck it at some point, if given the opportunity. Hell, he’d make the opportunity if he had to.

Hunter had apparently noticed Sebastian’s leer, and rolled his eyes. He kicked his legs off the bed and walked naked over to his bag. Sebastian again took a few moments to admire the muscles on Hunter’s back and for the first time had the opportunity to appreciate his bare ass. He was a huge fan of butt dimples, the slight inward curve that a toned ass had. Sebastian chuckled to himself, the word  _squats_  springing to mind. Apparently Hunter never skipped leg day, not with an ass like that.

“Okay, you’re doing that on purpose!” Sebastian complained from the bed. Hunter had bent over at the hips to get his clothing from his bag, providing Sebastian with an excellent view of his backside.

Hunter straightened himself, an innocent expression on his face. “Never…” He teased, winking, before pulling his underwear over strong legs. Sebastian watched openly as he slowly dressed. Sebastian, meanwhile just lounged languidly, legs spread. The sun was only just starting to peek through the curtains in the room; they weren’t in a huge rush and Sebastian was still enjoying the pleasant enough afterglow. Besides, watching Hunter get dressed was a kind of delicious torture. Hunter, on the other hand, did not seem to appreciate Sebastian’s lie in, and threw his clothes for the day at Sebastian, the pants hitting him across the face.

“You’re no fun,” Sebastian pouted, pulling the pants away.

“Nope. Get dressed.”

Slowly, Sebastian extricated himself from the blankets and yanked his clothing on. He stretched out a little, yawning widely but otherwise feeling overall... well, fantastic. Sex always did that to him though, was half of the reason he indulged in it so frequently.

"So, what's the plan for the day, cap'n?" He asked as he tugged his boots on.

"We're aiming for Amish country." Hunter said as he emerged from the bathroom, pot of water in hand.

Sebastian raised his eyebrows at Hunter. "Oh really? Why's that?"

"I want to test your mother's theory, see if it is the vaccination. If it is, the Amish shouldn't be affected at all. If not... well, we don't go through Amish country."

"Why on earth would we want to go through Amish country anyway?"

Hunter shrugged. "Frankly, I'm hoping to get some food that isn't freeze-dried for one night. It'll also help test the theory. If it is the vaccination, we'll know to avoid towns. If it's not, we're in trouble. If the Amish are infected, it might also show that it's infectious." He frowned and looked Sebastian over. "That said, if it were infectious, you'd likely have shown symptoms by this point."

"I was scratched, not bitten." Sebastian pointed out.

"Very true, but just because it's in zombie movies doesn't mean it applies here. Haven't we established that?"

Sebastian nodded, not entirely willing to admit that Hunter was correct. Hunter turned back to the water and set the Trangia up to start boiling it. Sebastian used the time that Hunter was boiling their coffee and making their oatmeal for breakfast to repack his bag. He was tempted to take another bath, but knew that Hunter wouldn't allow them to waste any more time today than had already been lost. Shame, really.

He took the coffee from Hunter when offered and they ate their flavourless oatmeal in silence.

"You know..." Sebastian commented casually when they were done, "we should pick up some lube before we leave."

"Should we now?" Hunter asked, arching an eyebrow.

Sebastian winked. "Way I see it... might be a long time before we get any other company. I'll stroke your dick if you stroke mine, that kind of thing."

"I think the saying is-"

"I know what the saying is!" Sebastian cried, letting out a snort.

"Right. Well, I guess... it wouldn't hurt." He pulled a slight face, expression creasing. "Are you, um, okay?"

Sebastian rolled his eyes. "I've had worse, believe me. Don't stress."

"Sorry for my concern." Hunter snapped, cheeks going a little pink. "But fine, yes, we'll get some lube before we leave."

At that, Sebastian gave a slight cackle. Operation Make Hunter Bi-Curious might have taken a few years, but he was definitely on the right track now.


	6. Chapter 6

_Days 13 to 19._

It took them just over two days to reach Amish Country.  Sebastian was not shocked but still relieved to discover that the Amish were in fact infection-free. Sebastian trusted his mother, knew she bordered genius, and he was pleased to see that her theory had been correct.

They wandered through the cold, dead fields, deviating off the main road slightly, in an effort to find the appropriate establishment. They were going in blind, in Hunter’s words, but they’d crossed a large sign that indicated that a large Amish settlement was five miles southwest. Apparently this was tourist country as well.

The sun had beaten down on them as they walked, the glare reflecting up off the roads, straining Sebastian’s eyes; thankfully, the sun had started to set, leaving a warm orange glow over the world as the chill set into the air. Again, the world was mute of human life, but at least the sounds of animals were around. In New York, in some of the cities they’d been in, all sounds of life, down to the scurry of rats, had slowly been extinguished. Out here in the fields, Sebastian heard the sound of small animals running through the long grass and it was comforting in its own weird way.

“Shouldn’t the animals all be asleep? It’s still really cold…” Sebastian frowned. The snow had melted in this area, leaving the ground muddy and squelching beneath their feet but a cold bite still lingered in the air.

Hunter shrugged. “It’s March. Nearly spring. Maybe some of them come out early.”

“Weirdos. If I could be sleeping all winter, trust me, I would be.”

The sigh Hunter released was heavy and almost frustrated. “Trust me when I say I know.”

Sebastian couldn’t stop the wide grin crossing his face, one completely absent of a smirk. Of course Hunter knew; they’d lived in the same apartment for years. Hunter was more than aware of Sebastian’s love of sleeping through the day and arising in the afternoons.

“So, where are we going to camp for the night?” Sebastian asked, looking over the darkening fields. As the world darkened, he finally saw the tiniest signs of light in the distance, a small town or collection of houses.

Hunter frowned beside him. “We sneak into a barn,” he said finally. “I’ve had time to reconsider things, and don’t feel approaching them in the night would be entirely wise.”

Sebastian raised his eyebrows. “A barn? Really? With smelly animals that make fucktons of noise?”

Hunter shrugged. “At least it’ll be warmer. And dry. Don’t know if you’ve noticed but the ground is muddy.”

With a roll of the eyes, Sebastian nodded. Hunter was right. The ground wasn’t exactly sliding heavily beneath their boots, but if they attempted to put a tent up, it’d get drenched for sure. No thanks. Even sleeping in a barn with smelly animals seemed appealing. He just hoped they didn’t make loads of noise and prevent him from sleeping.

Night fell quickly, the sky dropping from orange into purples and then finally a deep blue-black. The stars were bright, but the moon was only half full and didn’t provide much light. As they approached the small settlement, it became clear that the predictions were correct regarding the Amish: they were not Infected, and went about life with no problems it seemed. Nobody was outside, thankfully, but their movements could be seen against the candlelit glow coming from the windows, people moving around inside the wooden houses as if nothing in the world had changed.  

Sebastian and Hunter silently crept around the settlement, darkness cloaking them. From what they could tell, nobody noticed them, no shouts being heard through the houses as they moved discreetly around them.

There was a barn a short distance from the settlement, and it was clear that things were still cool enough that the people had put the animals inside. Sebastian was tempted to bring out a torch to help them see but knew that the light would risk them being discovered. Instead, he watched as Hunter moved around the barn, looking for a door aside from the large front ones. Opening them would risk too much, potentially causing noise and alerting the people to their presence.

Ugh. So much for getting a non-freeze dried meal.

“Yes…” Hunter breathed, apparently having located a door. There wasn’t a lock in sight, surprising Sebastian but he supposed it didn’t really matter, being this far from most civilisation. Slowly, so as not to cause any creaks or squeals, Hunter eased the door open, squeezing through the small gap. Sebastian followed him, sucking in his stomach by force of habit, rather than the knowledge it would actually make it easier to get inside. With his heavy backpack on, sucking his stomach in those few inches wouldn’t really make a difference.

Inside was almost pitch black, and as soon as Hunter closed the door, they were plunged into complete darkness. Through the darkness, Sebastian heard horses braying softly, inhaled the overwhelming smell of fresh hay and… whatever the fuck else horses were fed. Surprising him, however, was the fact that it didn’t outright stink. Maybe they were cleaned out regularly? He didn’t know, nor care. All that mattered was that it actually didn’t make him want to gag at the smell.

Hunter’s torch came on, but he didn’t flick it around. Slowly, carefully, Sebastian noticed him poking it around the barn, light shining on tack, feed bins, and different horses in stalls. There was a ladder, and when the light followed that, it revealed an upper loft full of bales of hay, and what appeared to be folded blankets for the livestock.

“We should go up there,” Hunter said softly, voice barely above a whisper.

“Why up there?” Sebastian asked, following him regardless as he started towards the ladder, slowly ascending it.

“Because it’s a place to sleep. By all means sleep in a horse stall if you want, but I’m going up where the clean hay is,” Hunter said, eye roll clear in his tone. He heard the click of the torch being flicked off, and the soft blue light disappeared as Hunter moved up the rungs. When he reached the top, Sebastian heard him drop himself onto the wooden floor, and flick the torch back on, shining the light on the ladder for Sebastian.

Heaving a sigh, Sebastian quickly moved up, taking Hunter’s proffered hand when he was nearly at the top, allowed himself to be helped. Sebastian sat on the edge, feet dangling over the side, eased his backpack off and searched for his own torch. Hunter was flicking his own light around, examining the space.

Great mounds of hay covered the top, most of it bound, but a large enough pile lay in a heap. A pitchfork leaned nearby, horse blankets neatly stacked on a shelf, and some wooden bins lined the wall. It’d do for the night, and they could definitely spread their blankets over the hay and make a somewhat comfortable bed. A hand brushing the sharp hay told Sebastian that it was not as soft as it looked. At least it smelled… okay.

Still using their torches as their only form of light, not willing to risk anything more, they began to strip out of their boots, unbuckled their belts. Hunter tossed a sachet of cold soup at Sebastian, the silver package landing in his lap. Sebastian picked it up with a wince; the soups were okay heated, but eating it cold? He wasn’t entirely sure he didn’t want to just go hungry.

He heard the rustle of sleeping bags, and the quiet pad of Hunter walking. When he flicked his torch up to look at Hunter, he saw him grabbing some blankets and throwing them out across the pile of hay, layering several of them on top of each other. Finally, Hunter threw his sleeping bag on top. He dragged his shirt off, yanked his socks off, and folded them neatly before shoving them back into his bag. Sebastian followed suit silently, throwing his own sleeping bag onto the other side of the blankets, a few feet between them. The barn was actually pleasantly warm, and despite the sounds the horses made and the unfamiliar smells, Sebastian felt soothed by the environment.

He kicked off most of his clothing, leaving them in a pile on the ground, and he heard Hunter sigh at him. Finally, he threw himself back onto the pile of blankets and hay, little packet of soup in hand. Sebastian wrinkled his nose and tore it open, and with a disgusted face invisible in the darkness, he squeezed the cold chunks into his mouth, gagging a little. It felt cold and slimy, and frankly just gross, but he managed to get it down. He knew he needed the food.

Hunter dropped down onto the blankets as well, and the tearing of the sachet could be heard through the horses moving downstairs.

“So what? We just go to sleep?” Sebastian asked into their silence.

“Yup,” Hunter said, his own voice a little grossed out by the taste of the cold soup. “We want to be out of here by the time the rooster crows. Don’t want to get shot.”

Sebastian nodded. Great. A pre-dawn wake up call. Wonderful.

They settled into their sleeping bags, a few feet still between them. Without the need to cling for warmth, there really wasn’t a purpose in them touching as they slept, Hunter curling around him protectively.

Minutes, possibly hours, ticked by. Sebastian couldn’t sleep. Hunter’s breathing was even, but too far away. He felt oddly lost without Hunter’s touch against him. Every time he felt himself drooping into sleep, he was jolted awake in a mild panic, wondering where Hunter was. It only took a few seconds for him to realise that Hunter only lay a few feet from him, but his unconscious was not pleased with the space.

“Oh fuck it…” Sebastian heard Hunter whisper, voice tired and frustrated. There was another rustle of the plastic of the sleeping bag shifting over the thick blankets, and then Hunter was beside him, an arm snaking out of the sleeping bag to wrap around Sebastian’s waist.

“Hunter?” Sebastian asked sleepily. “What’s up?”

Hunter grumbled and he shifted in a little closer, fingers tightening around Sebastian’s waist through the bag. “Can’t sleep without you…” Hunter muttered.

Sebastian snorted, and shifted himself so that Hunter was spooning him. He already felt better, safer. “Good. Can’t sleep without you either,” Sebastian admitted, already falling into sleep.

The change in their positions must have worked, because Sebastian didn’t wake again until he heard the heavy creak of large doors opening, and felt a rush of light enter the barn. A childish voice rang through, wishing the horses a good morning.

Sebastian’s eyes flew open and he felt Hunter sit up quickly beside him. “Shit!” Hunter swore. The dawn was visible through the now open barn door. Sebastian hadn’t heard the rooster crow, but that didn’t mean a thing; he’d been sleeping quite deeply. “Sebastian, get up. We have to get out of here  _now_!” Hunter said, shaking Sebastian’s shoulder.

Nodding, Sebastian quickly got up, trying to be as silent as possible. Below, he saw a small boy happily moving through the stable, petting some of the horses and talking happily to them.

“I’m gonna get you some hay!” The boy crowed at the horses, sounding excited. Sebastian and Hunter froze. If the kid came up there, they’d be discovered for sure, and then… Who knew what’d happen? They’d likely get shot or something equally fun. “Gotta get Father!” He announced to nobody in particular, and the tension that had risen in Sebastian’s chest released. He watched as the boy ran out of the barn, yanking his boots on quickly. He didn’t bother with an overshirt for now, just frantically tried to clear things up.

The blankets were poorly folded, but that didn’t matter. Sebastian watched as Hunter all but slid down the ladder, not bothering with rungs, his hands sliding along the wood as if he had no fear of splinters, landing with surprising grace and lightness on the floor. Sebastian finished with his bootlaces and followed after him, feet tripping on the ladder rungs. Hunter’s hands caught his hips when he was close enough, and Sebastian jumped the remaining few steps onto the ground.

They moved back towards the door they’d come in through, and Hunter stuck his head out slowly, checking that the coast was clear. Luckily, the door faced a large field and not the settlement, and it appeared that nobody was in the fields at that early hour. It was still dawn, the sky pinkish and filled with the grey blueness of night.

“Okay, we need to make a run for it,” Hunter told Sebastian. “We have to get to the field, and then we’ll just work our way through there quickly.”

Sebastian nodded. The field wasn’t that far away, and the crops were easily high enough to disguise them once they made it there. Apparently without thinking about it, Hunter grabbed Sebastian’s hand and started tugging him quickly towards the field.

The gap between the safety of the barn and the field was awful. Sebastian’s heart pounded and he felt cold sweat forming across his body. He hadn’t felt so exposed in ages. The problem here wasn’t the Infected; it was living, breathing individuals with brains, who would likely be  _very_  pissed off that somebody had trespassed. They were in the open with not a tree to hide behind, and all it would take was a few well-aimed bullets for them to be done for. Wouldn’t that be a fucking joke? They’d have survived the Infected this long, survived hypothermia and barbed wire attacks, only to be shot by some Amish.

With that in mind, Sebastian increased his pace, ending up leading Hunter, his hand still in his.

The screech of the rooster cawing at the early morning made almost Sebastian jump out of his skin, or so he thought. Hunter also flinched, a gasp escaping his lips. They both snorted with laughter when they realised it was just a rooster, not anybody noticing them.

Finally, the tall stalks of the field closed around them, and the tension that had built in Sebastian’s stomach, chest and throat eased. Holy fuck, they were safe. Well, almost.

He felt Hunter’s hand drop from his, and they both heaved sighs of relief.

“We’re still not really in the clear,” Hunter said to Sebastian, still walking, starting to push through the field.

“I know,” Sebastian sighed. Despite knowing this, he felt infinitely safer now that they were out of sight of the settlement.

“Good. Then let’s keep fucking moving.”

Sebastian was pleased, but not surprised, when things didn't change between him and Hunter that day. They still continued their long and boring walks. Hunter didn't look at him any differently, and Sebastian knew he leered more at Hunter but that was entirely due to the fact that he found it humorous when Hunter saw him doing so and rolled his eyes.

"Truth," Hunter said halfway through the day, things once again getting so boring that they had to resort to actually conversing.

Sebastian grinned, pleased to see he'd managed to get Hunter into the game. "Go on."

"Were we not stuck in the middle of nowhere, with nobody but each other around, would you have actually had sex with me?"

At that, Sebastian groaned. "Oh god, what are you? A woman? Don't question the sex, Hunter."

"I'm not. I'm just curious. You stare at my ass all of the time, but aside from harmless flirting, you've never explicitly made any moves to hit on me. I'm just confirming that I don't have to break your heart, or your dick."

Sebastian sighed. "Fine. Yes, I would. But that's not saying an awful lot."

"Given that you fuck anything that moves?"

"Given that I'll fuck anything with a nice face and a nicer cock," Sebastian corrected, winking. "And you have a particularly nice face."

Hunter chuckled, but said nothing. His lips quirked up into a smug grin, and Sebastian couldn’t help but laugh at it. God, Hunter was an arrogant son of a bitch.  

"Fine,” Sebastian said, sidling up to walk beside Hunter, eager to see his face as they spoke. Usually he stayed one or two steps behind. “My turn. Would you have ever had sex with me were we not in the middle of nowhere with nobody other than flesh-eating monsters around?"

"I should have expected that..." Hunter muttered, his expression creasing. Oh, that was interesting. Sebastian raised his eyebrows expectantly at Hunter's expression. For the next minute, Sebastian had the delight of watching Hunter hem and haw over his answer, opening his mouth several times as if to start saying something, but then deciding against it each time. "Yes," he finally responded, begrudgingly.

Sebastian's small smile cracked into a wicked grin. "Oh, really?"

"I mean, it wouldn't have been something I went out of the way to do. But if we were both horny and drunk, and it happened, I wouldn't have stopped it. I mean, your ass is good enough." Despite his clear voice and blank face (always a sure sign that he was hiding something), Sebastian couldn’t help but notice the tips of his ears and his neck redden just slightly. Normally, Sebastian would tease him mercilessly, but… he wanted to keep that fact to himself for now.

Instead, Sebastian cackled. "I'll have you know, my ass is fantastic."

It was Hunter's turn to leer now, and he slowed his steps slightly so that he was behind Sebastian, and he made a show of checking Sebastian's ass out. Sebastian wiggled his hips slightly, teasingly.

"It'll do," Hunter said with a wink.

Sebastian laughed and shoved Hunter slightly. Hunter glared at him and looked ready to shove him back before growling “You are  _so_  lucky you’re injured, or you’d be on the pavement right now.”

“How about…” Sebastian started, turning around to face Hunter, walking backwards for the moment, “we stop early for the night, and I’ll show you how uninjured I really am.” He winked. “And how fantastic my ass is. And while I’m at it, how heavenly my mouth is.”

Hunter raised his eyebrows and when Sebastian ever so slowly dragged his eyes down Hunter’s body and rested on his crotch, he saw Hunter was definitely interested in the suggestion. It was late afternoon, but normally they’d walk for at least another hour before setting up camp. But hey, what was one hour going to hurt, particularly when orgasms were involved.

“Fine.” Hunter snapped eventually, eyes bright, a tiny quirk of the lips indicating his excitement. Sebastian walked ahead of Hunter, but he made it clear that it was only for the purpose of checking out his ass as he walked. Hunter was still most definitely in charge, and he knew behind him that Hunter’s eyes were scouting the forest beside him for what he deemed an acceptable place to stop for camp.

Hunter finally found a spot he deemed acceptable, an open patch of land. They'd been walking through what appeared to be a National Park for the past day, and as such there were occasional camping spots to be found, with spaces for fires, tents and even running water. Hell, the current one even had an old picnic table. It was a few minutes walk from the highway, but Sebastian didn't care at all. All he wanted was his and Hunter's pants off now. Hunter slipped out of his backpack with just one corner of his mouth tipping up, eyes glinting almost playfully. Sebastian cracked his neck and fixed him with a sultry look, lifting his eyebrows quickly.

Hunter turned away from him for a moment and brought out his sleeping bag and mat, laying them on the ground with quick efficiency. Shit, why hadn't Sebastian thought of that? Yeah, there was no way he'd have ridden Hunter on the ground, no matter how hot it sounded.

"Well, you gonna do something about it?" he asked, indicating Hunter's now obvious erection with his eyes.

"Knees. Now,” Hunter growled, hands going to his belt and buttons, hastily pushing them down as Sebastian sank to his knees, careful to keep his dirty boots from hitting the sleeping bag and making that dustier than it already was.

He dragged a teasing hand around Hunter, bringing him to full mast, and before Hunter had a chance to snarl that he should fucking get on with it, he sank down onto him, mouth swallowing him easily. Goddamn, he was really glad he'd learned to deep throat years ago. Despite fucking Hunter for the past week, he still hadn't had the chance to suck him off, and now he was tempted to take his time. But there was a desperation to their movements, and he knew that right then, Hunter would probably cuff him around the ear if he teased too much. He knew when Hunter wanted teasing and when Hunter just wanted to fucking get off.

Still, that didn't prevent him from enjoying every moment of this. Hunter was hard and thick and heavy in his mouth, tasted of sweat and skin, and everything incredible. Sebastian brought his hands up to help him with the spots he wasn't sucking on as he drew away, bringing him completely into his mouth, holding for as long as his lungs could, drawing away with a quiet gasp each time, eyes and nose watering.

"God, why didn't I let you do this years ago?" Hunter groaned from above him.

"Your loss," Sebastian breathed as he drew off before sinking down again. He used a hand to pull Hunter's hands into his hair, giving him permission to fuck his mouth if he wanted; god, there was nothing Sebastian wanted more.

"I know..." he groaned, drawn out as he snapped his hips up into Sebastian's mouth, shoving hard. He held Sebastian's head there for a few long moments before yanking his head half off, allowing him a breath and then snapping back in. "God, look at you take it..." Hunter breathed.

Sebastian moaned around him, more than happy with the current situation. If there was one thing Sebastian loved more than sex, more than himself, it was sucking cock. And he was good at it too. He loved making someone fall apart with his mouth, loved to taste, loved to explore with his tongue and tease with hot breath and soft licks. He loved sucking them off, feeling them harden against his tongue, feeling the blood rushing through as they got harder and harder, brought them closer to their completion. He even liked it when they came in his mouth, sometimes on his face if he was feeling filthy enough, or didn't feel like swallowing that night. And Hunter? God, Hunter felt amazing in his mouth, amazing against his tongue, stretching his lips wide, his jaw aching, but feeling so damn good.

Suddenly, he was yanked off Hunter’s cock, nails digging into his scalp. If that didn’t go straight to his own cock, he didn’t know what would. He whined unconsciously.

“Quit your bitching,” Hunter muttered, voice wrecked, lips red from where he’d bitten them. “Hands and knees, now.” He ordered, reaching over into his pack and drawing some of the lube they’d been toting with them out.

Yes. This was what Sebastian wanted and needed. But there was no way he was going to be fucked on his hands and knees again. Nope, he was in charge this time. He yanked his boots and socks off and kicked off his pants, leaving him only in his undershirt, tossed them all to the picnic table just above them so they wouldn’t be dirtied on the ground, and then turned back to face Hunter. He yanked Hunter’s pants down a little further, giving himself better access, and then shoved him down onto his back.

“The fuck are you doing Smy-” Hunter groused as he fell back. “Oh.” He grinned wickedly. “If you say so.”

“I do,” Sebastian muttered, snatching the lube from Hunter and squeezing some onto his fingers before going back to Hunter’s cock with his mouth. Hunter groaned, a hand coming back to his hair.

Sebastian hurriedly started prepping himself, not aiming for pleasure or seeking out particular spots, just stretching so this wouldn’t hurt. Whilst his hand was busy, he continued teasing Hunter’s cock with his mouth, less about sucking now, more placing gentle licks up and around it, torturing him with hot breath as he just hovered over his cock. He climbed up Hunter’s body, lubed hand going to Hunter’s cock to cover him a little more thoroughly, and slowly, carefully lowered himself down. His knees dug into the sleeping bag, feeling the little stones on the ground through it, but as soon as Hunter was inside of him, all of that faded away.

Hunter groaned and Sebastian released a breathy moan, eyes fluttering shut. God, that was what he’d wanted. His hands slid on Hunter’s damp chest, bringing the slickness back to the gummy lube on his hands. He couldn’t be fucked with that, so he brought his arms up a little higher to rest on the seat of the picnic table, leaning most of his weight into that. The healing cuts on his arm throbbed a little but as soon as he shoved himself harder down onto Hunter’s cock, all thoughts of cuts disappeared.

“God, yes,” Hunter groaned, nails dragging down Sebastian’s back as he threw his head back. Sebastian didn’t take things slowly, already so desperate for his release. Instead, he shoved himself down, hard and fast, fucking Hunter roughly, shifting weight between his hands on the wooden bench, knees on the sleeping bag. Hunter fucked back up against him, hands gripping his back, ass, thighs.

He looked down at Hunter, a small smile on his face, followed Hunter’s gaze. He was watching, entranced, as his cock slid in and out of Sebastian.

“Like what you see, huh?” Sebastian teased breathlessly, letting his own head fall back, back arching as he ground a little, nails digging into the old wood of the bench.

“Fuck yes,” Hunter agreed, eyes finally dragging up to look at Sebastian. He felt Hunter’s hand go to his throat, and for a moment Sebastian wondered if Hunter had a secret breathplay fetish. He was almost a little disappointed when his hand didn’t close around his throat, but instead wiped away the trickle of sweat running down his throat, thumb swiping it away easily. “Look at you fucking take it…” Hunter moaned, sounding wrecked. “Can see my cock sliding in and out of you, can feel you all tight and hot around me. Fuck, Bas, you look so fucking good riding me like this.”

Sebastian couldn’t find words, his own pleasure overwhelming him to the point that he couldn’t do more than grin widely and fuck Hunter harder. Sweat beaded on his forehead and dripped onto Hunter, but he didn’t seem to care. Sebastian honestly didn’t give a fuck either. He was too busy riding waves of pleasure, heat pulsing through him, moaning wantonly under his breath. Being on top allowed him to control the perfect angle, and fuck him if it wasn’t the most wonderful feeling.

Arms shaking, he lowered himself onto his forearm, holding himself up with only one arm, the other going to desperately fist at his cock. He didn’t care about the lack of lube, the roughness of it all, all he knew was that he wanted to so badly get off.

“C’mon, yes, fucking take it like that…” Hunter groaned, snapping his hips up and stilling them, groaning deeply.

“No no, no, don’t you dare fucking come without me…” Sebastian muttered, continuing to jerk himself off. He knew he had a minute before Hunter started to soften, and he rode Hunter harder, fucking him roughly through his orgasm, heat pooling in his stomach, orgasm so close he could almost taste it.

He groaned around his lip, teeth securing around the pink flesh as his body convulsed, fucking Hunter through his own orgasm. White heat rushed through his fingers, splattering on Hunter’s chest, his back arched, eyes snapping closed. For a long minute after he came, he sat atop Hunter, not moving, just breathing, hand still wrapped around his softening cock. He could feel Hunter starting to slip out of him, Hunter’s own chest heaving as he sought to bring air back into his lungs. Slowly, he opened his eyes, their lids heavy. He gave Hunter a languid grin before sliding up and off of him, falling down beside him onto the slim sleeping bag.

For a long time, they lay on the sleeping bag, naked and sweaty, pressing close so as not to touch the ground over the edge of the bag. They didn't speak, didn't trail fingers sweetly over each other. Sebastian knew if he were in a larger bed, they wouldn't even be touching. For now, however, it was actually kind of nice to lie there and cool off, let their racing hearts slow back to a steady thud.

Eventually, Hunter groaned and shifted up onto his elbows, and then leaned over and grabbed his pants.

"That's it, enough afterglow," Hunter said, winking at Sebastian. Sebastian rolled his eyes. He would have been quite content to lie there until he fell asleep. Trust Hunter to ruin that for him. He shifted up and then winced, grimacing as he felt the stickiness between his ass cheeks. Gross. He should have cleaned that earlier. He grabbed his pants from off the ground and stood, naked, crossing the few feet to his pack to grab some baby wipes to clean up. A cool breeze rustled through the trees, and it was then that Sebastian noticed how dark it had become. The shadows of the trees were long, stretching across the ground and creating more darkness, the patches of sunlight almost entirely gone from the sky.

When he turned around, Hunter was almost fully dressed, buttoning his shirt, his feet bare. Sebastian allowed himself a moment to appreciate the red marks adorning his neck, the flush still tainting his skin, the mussed and sweaty appearance of his hair. Goddamn, Hunter looked so good after sex that he wanted to go another round, right then.

Still, they had a camp to set up if they wanted to get any amount of sleep tonight, so he didn't push the issue. He finally pulled his rumpled clothing completely on, and started unpacking things whilst Hunter went to scout the area and find firewood. He sincerely doubted that they'd run into any Infected, but if was always worth checking. Taking things for granted would land them into more trouble than it was worth.

"Shit, it got dark really fast." Hunter frowned when he returned to the camp. Sebastian had tested the water from the small tap to the side of the camp, finding it safe to drink, and had started organising things other than the campfire. Hunter had finally taught him how to pitch a tent (an event that had tested every single one of Sebastian's erection jokes), and he had to admit, the site was looking pretty good.

Sebastian looked up at Hunter, smiled for some reason he couldn't fathom, and nodded.

Hunter dropped the pile of wood beside Sebastian when a howl resounded through the woods. They both froze. Wolves howling wasn't that big of a deal, not that Sebastian knew. He'd never actually heard a wolf howl in real life. But... that was sounded really close. He spun quickly, almost expecting a pack of wolves to burst through the trees. There was rustling of the underbush and with wide eyes, Sebastian looked over at Hunter. Hunter was standing stock still, eyes darting around quickly. He had a finger in the air, indicating Sebastian shouldn't speak.

In spite of this, Sebastian continued on. "That was just the wind, right?"

Hunter glared, still clearly listening. The wind dropped, and the sounds of rustling bushes and trees eased. Sebastian saw Hunter's shoulders drop as he visibly relaxed and heard him sigh softly.

Sebastian cautiously stepped closer, heart pounding furiously already. Wolves in Illinois? He knew they'd been reintroduced in the past few years, but he didn't know they ran free this far south. Had they escaped their park further north?

"Wolves..." Hunter sighed, running a hand through his hair, face tight. His lips were a thin line, and if Sebastian didn't know better, he was willing to guess Hunter was on edge. He saw Hunter worry slightly at his lip with his teeth, but he relaxed the muscle after a second, lips returning to their normal full shape. "I didn't know they'd come this far south..."

“Do you think they’re close?” Sebastian asked, hoping that Hunter had some better understanding of wolves than he did. Sebastian knew  _nothing_  about them. He’d seen The Grey though, and the thoughts chilled him to the bone. He inadvertently shivered, thinking on that. Had they crossed into the wrong area? Were they going to literally become dog meat in the next twelve hours?

Hunter shrugged. “Don’t know. They sounded about a mile off, but this is a forest in a slight dip. Could sound louder because of the dip, could be closer because of the trees.”

“Some fucking help you are…” Sebastian muttered, inching closer again to Hunter.

“Oh please, delight me with all that you know about wolves!” Hunter snarled, not looking away from the edges of the trees. Sebastian noticed his hands were white where they gripped his gun.

He realised with a wave of horror that Hunter was scared. Hunter could handle Infected, knew how to deal with them and get them out of tricky situations. He didn't understand wolves. He didn't know if they were like spiders, more scared of you than you are of them, or if they'd approach, furious at humans for intruding on their territory. He didn't know how they attacked, how they'd come at things. Hunter Clarington was fucking scared, and that is what terrified Sebastian.

“So what do we do?” Sebastian asked, trying to keep any tremors from his voice, waiting for Hunter’s direction. In life or death situations, he was always going to hand the reins to Hunter; he hadn’t lead them astray yet.

Hunter’s eyes finally flicked over to Sebastian’s face and in them, Sebastian saw the fear. He’d hoped he’d been wrong, that he’d have seen Hunter’s cold blue eyes, or some overconfident smirk. Hunter shrugged. “We… hope to fucking hell they don’t come this way.”

Sebastian nodded slowly, chewing the inside of his lip where Hunter wouldn’t see it. “I’ll… get the fire going.” He said, bending down hesitantly to fiddle with the wood, but Hunter’s arm shot out.

“No. Don’t do anything that might attract them.” Sebastian frowned at that. Wouldn’t the fire scare them away? Wasn’t that something instinctual?

“Okay, fine, but… what do we eat? How the fuck are we meant to sleep tonight?”

Hunter’s eyebrows shot up, and as soon as he opened his mouth to speak, another howl rang through the air, followed by several others. Hunter swallowed audibly, heard even over the howls. They sounded closer and this time, through the edges of the forest, Sebastian was certain he heard the pounding of paws on leaves, the rush of bodies pushing through bushes, barks ringing through the forest. Finally, when the howls stopped, and the colour returned to Hunter’s face, he said, “We don’t.”

“We… don’t? Don’t do what?” He’d completely forgotten in the several minutes he’d heard the wolves. He felt a hand come to rest on his forearm and only then did he realise he was actually trembling.

“Don’t sleep. Do you really think you’d be able to, with howls like that? We’re in their territory. They’ll probably eat us alive.”

“Do wolves do that?” Sebastian asked, genuinely uncertain.

“I dunno. Didn’t exactly study them at Columbia Law. But do you really want to be taking any chances?” Hunter’s hand on Sebastian’s forearm was tight, chewed nails digging into his skin. Hunter’s own fear was painfully obvious, although, if Sebastian didn’t know him so well, he might not have picked it.

Hunter walked through the darkness to the tent and started pulling it down, dragging their sleeping bags from inside it out into a small, pathetic looking pile in the middle of the clearing. Sebastian wasn’t sure what he was doing, and despite not being hungry, he’d learned the importance of eating. He dug around for the canned food, not having a fire to enable them the freeze dried macaroni. Cold soup; goody.

Hunter managed to pull down the tent and pop it away, and then threw their guns on the pile of sleeping mats.

“Okay, explain what the fuck you’re doing?” Sebastian said, hands going to his hips.

Hunter spun at look at him, expression livid. “Keep your fucking voice down,” Hunter growled through gritted teeth.

Sebastian raised his eyebrows at that. “What, the wolves are going to hear my normal talking voice, but not my whispers? Are you fucking insane, Clarington?”

Hunter stormed the few feet across the clearing to him, getting close to his face, chest and nose bare inches apart. He was shorter than Sebastian, but in moments like this, he definitely seemed at least a foot taller. “You know nothing about wolves, and nor do I. I’m not about to take chances just because some asshole can’t speak quietly. Now shut your goddamn mouth, or you can swallow a bullet tonight.” He kept his icy blue eyes on Sebastian’s until Sebastian’s shoulder drooped and he sighed.

“Fine. Sorry,” he breathed, rolling his eyes and folding his arms across his chest. Hunter dropped his own shoulders and he pushed away from Sebastian, turning back to the little pile he’d made. He grabbed their sleeping bags and the guns and heaped them into his arms, and walked across to the old wooden picnic table. Sebastian ignored him, too intent on listening to the continued howls, and again, he was certain he could hear the wolves running through the trees around them.

Cold sweat trickled down his neck, ran from his shoulder blades, down his spine and into his shirt. His heart pounded violently in his chest and he almost couldn’t hear the wolves over the pounding in his ears.

He heard Hunter gasp, and Sebastian frantically looked over at him, eyes wide, half expecting to see a wolf burst through the trees. It didn’t, but holy fuck, another howl started on the other side to where the other pack was howling, and it sounded impossibly close. Sebastian’s long legs made short work of the clearing, and he grabbed his gun from the table, flicking the safety off instantly. Just in case.

Hunter moved so that they were essentially back to back; he felt Hunter’s warm back brush his, the curve of his ass touch the top of Sebastian’s thigh. Hunter spread his legs slightly, stance strong and through the howls Sebastian heard him cock his gun as well. He wasn’t aiming yet, but they were both ready for something to happen at any moment.

The howls continued for hours. Sometimes, there was barking, yelping, the sound of something heavy being brought down within audible distance.

Hunter eventually grabbed Sebastian by the back of his shirt and yanked him to sit on the table, backs still to each other, their eyes taking in their dark surroundings. The full moon poked soft light through the trees but barely provided enough for them to be able to see any clearer. Sebastian wrapped a blanket across his legs, but not once did he let his eyes leave the trees in front of him, knowing that the second he did, a wolf would burst through the shrubbery and rip into him with piercing canines.

The howls eased after some time, and he relaxed back against Hunter a little. He knew the danger wasn’t over yet, but at least without the howls things felt better.

In front of him, bushes shook, and he actually felt as though he were going to vomit for a moment. His heart pounded so violently he wondered if it were possible to have a heart attack in his twenties. The beauty of the howls was that when they howled, they had a better idea of where they were. Without them, they had nothing to rely on, and Sebastian realised that that was all the more terrifying.

There were a few moments where he was alarmed to find himself on the verge of sleep.  His eyes burned with tiredness and his limbs felt like dead weights. At one point, he almost wondered that should a wolf burst through if he’d be able to physically lift his gun to fire off a shot.

Eventually, as the sun started to push past the hills and over the trees, the howls started easing. There was a long silence where they both watched the bushes, listened for the pad of paws, for further yips, howls, barks. The sun was over halfway past the horizon before Sebastian felt Hunter’s back relax against his and he heard him sigh and exhale with relief. Sebastian leaned back against him, heart still racing in his chest. His clothing clung to him, damp from the terror sweat he’d had all night, and he was desperate to peel it off, the coldness seeping through his skin.

“We have to get out of here,” Hunter said finally, his voice back to normal.

“I agree.”

“We can sleep all afternoon. But right now, we are getting right the fuck out of his forest.”

Sebastian nodded, although Hunter couldn’t see him. They pulled away, and when he saw Hunter’s face, he knew Hunter was as exhausted as he was. His eyes were dark, his lips red from where he’d clearly bitten them throughout the night. His skin was a pale grey, and if Hunter looked that bad, Sebastian knew he must look no better.

They packed the remains of their camp in silence, putting the safety back on their guns as they went. They didn’t change out of their clothing, nothing. They just had to get out of there, and until they felt safe, neither of them were going to stop.


	7. Chapter 7

_Days 20 to 30._

It took nearly five hours before they were clear of the forest. Even then, they kept walking until they were well past the trees, and eventually the trees were just a dark line on the horizon. Sebastian didn’t intend to drag his feet, but he was exhausted. His boots were heavy, his limbs felt as though they weighed a thousand tons, yet all he could think of was  _move move move_.

He felt almost dead on his feet by the time Hunter called them to a stop under the shade of a large tree, fields green and alive in the breeze around them.

“Sleep here, Hunter said, not bothering with further conversation. Sebastian nodded, too tired to even think about arguing, not that he wanted to. It was a large tree, and they were well away from the forest of the prior night, and he was so tired he felt physically ill now.

He dropped his pack onto the ground, and Hunter groaned as he did the same. Sebastian flopped to the ground, yanking his boots off, and dragging his sleeping bag from the top of it.

“Don’t need a tent, right?”

“Nope,” Hunter agreed, eyes grey and tired as he joined Sebastian on the ground.

He kicked the sleeping bag out in front of him, letting it fall across the ground, and Sebastian watched as he tugged his shirt and pants off, leaving him in underwear and an undershirt. Sebastian followed suit, and all but dragged his body into the sleeping bag. He couldn't remember ever being so tired in his life that what they were about to do even seemed an option. But after the following day of walking all day, fucking intensely, and then spending the entire night not eating and being terrified of wolves, plus the additional walking... all he wanted was sleep, and then when he woke, food.

"How long have we got?" He managed to ask Hunter, eyes already falling closed, tongue heavy in his mouth.

"I'll wake you up when I do," Hunter grumbled. Sebastian heard the shuffle of a sleeping bag, and a moment later felt Hunter's body pressed against his. "Shut up, I'm used to this now..." Hunter muttered, words trailing off as he clearly fell into sleep.

Sebastian wanted to say something, but his words got caught in his mouth and instead, he just slid in closer and let sleep take him.

When Sebastian dragged himself from sleep, he was not at all surprised to find Hunter curled around his body, almost spooning him. Sebastian didn't question it, didn't shift away, and definitely didn't bring it to Hunter's attention. He liked it there far more than he was willing to think about.

So he chose not to think about it.

The days were getting warmer. Sebastian was more than happy with this turn of events, particularly given his penchant for feeling like he was dying when it got too cold. Hunter honestly seemed impervious to the subtle changes in temperature. Larger changes in temperature, however, he noticed. Like most males Sebastian had encountered, he didn't seem to notice the cold at all, but as soon as it got a little warm, the shirts came off. Hunter was apparently no different. As soon as the sun had started bearing down on the tar, heat starting to rise from it, Hunter had insisted they stop for a moment so that he could whip his shirt off, hanging it over his belt.

"Won't you end up with cancer that way?' Sebastian asked, though certainly not complaining. There was always something to be appreciated about Hunter without a shirt, chest and torso tingling and starting to shine with sweat.

Hunter shrugged.

"You won't look as good when they cut the melanoma out of you."

"I'll always look good," Hunter grinned, winking at Sebastian.

Sebastian took the opportunity to leer. Again. Honestly, most of the day was a chance to leer at Hunter in one way or another; he wasn't going to pass up on such wonderful opportunities though. At least Hunter would look good until such time. And as long as his face stayed the same... Hmmm.

"Be more obvious, why don't you?" Hunter chuckled, but apparently not minding the attention whatsoever.

"I can try," Sebastian countered. "But really, you're practically asking me to look at your chest. You're the one who took your shirt off."

“Your mother would clip you under the ear for that comment. If you said that to a chick, she’d bitch at you for being a misogynist,” Hunter pointed out. “Besides, it’s hot.”

"And so are you. I'm failing to see the problem. You get your ego stroked, not that it needs it, and I get something more exciting to look at than a tarry road. It's pretty much a win-win situation." He paused and chuckled again. "Though, you might look far less appealing with tan lines from where your backpack is."

Hunter rolled his eyes. "Believe it or not, I'm not doing this for your entertainment. I'm doing it because it's  _hot_."

"And I'm not complaining." He paused and thought about it a little more. "But in all seriousness, you'll probably get sunburned." Sebastian had experienced far too many of those during his summers in Italy, and wouldn't wish that pain on anyone, least of all someone he was hoping to ride to exhaustion tonight.

Things between him and Hunter were... good, actually. To be frank, in the past seven or so days (was it seven? Honestly, it was getting easy to lose track of time), they'd spent an exceptional amount of time getting off together. Each morning was welcomed with a slow grinding session, their evenings spent with something rougher, Hunter fucking into Sebastian almost desperately. Sebastian's ass had healed up completely, and with the added benefit of lube, Hunter was more than willing to fuck Sebastian every which way to Sunday. Sebastian most certainly was not complaining. Despite the days getting considerably warmer, the nights were still freezing and Hunter and Sebastian had fallen into the habit of combining their sleeping bags, Hunter sometimes wrapping himself around Sebastian, all apparently in an effort to remain warm.

During the days… they simply walked. And talked, occasionally. But really, it was almost entirely waking in silence.

"So, you're close to your mom?" Hunter asked after they’d finished eating lunch, apparently bored of the deafening silence. He’d slipped his shirt back on, deciding that he’d had enough vitamin D for the day and indeed, didn’t want to get cancer.

Sebastian’s eyes narrowed suspiciously. Hunter rarely instigated conversations; he must have wanted something. Hunter’s face wasn’t the careful blank it usually was when he was up to something, his expression somewhat… curious, for the first time that Sebastian would remember.

Yes, he was close with his mother. She’d raised him as a single mother for most of his life, had taken mothering so painfully seriously. He hadn’t realised she was unusual until he’d stopped homeschooling and started attending a normal school at about eleven. And then, he’d realised she wasn’t like most mothers in that she didn’t fucking  _suck_  at life. All of his classmates complained about their parents, their parents being too strict, never listening to them. Sebastian’s mother’s problem wasn’t that she never listened; it’s that she wanted to know all of the damn details. Fuck, she’d been very annoying in his teen years, even trying to normalise masturbation whilst he blushed furiously at the dinner table.

Of course, as he’d grown older, and she’d eased off the sex and masturbation talks, things had improved. Regardless of how unusual she was, she’d always been the closest thing he had to a best friend, other than Hunter. Before the Infection started, he’d called her at least twice a week, and she knew everything about him, and honestly, he knew a lot about her. Except her sex life; he really, really didn’t want to picture his mother doing…  _that_.

Only then did Sebastian realise just how close he was with his mother, and more to the point, how  _desperate_  he was to find her. If they didn’t find her in California, he didn’t know what he would do. He knew every child had to lose their parents eventually; Sebastian wasn’t ready to lose his mother just yet.

Eventually, Sebastian sighed and nodded. "Yes. We’re close,” he said shortly before smirking. “And fine, I admit it. She was probably kind of a hippy." He’d never really realised that either.

"No, really? What gave it away?" Sarcasm was thick in Hunter’s voice.

"In my defence, I never once saw her wearing tie dye."

"But she didn't get you vaccinated. You basically lived on organic food. Hell, you're still an asshole about eating organic food. You drink green shit some days, which makes no fucking sense given how much coffee and alcohol you consume. She homeschooled you for years, because you weren't vaccinated..."

Sebastian rolled his eyes. “She just wanted to look after me. Besides, conventional food is awful. Organic is significantly better.”

“Spoken like a true hippy.”

“Fuck you. What about your parents? They were normal and boring.”

“Correct.”

Although he didn’t say it, Sebastian knew Hunter was worried. He didn’t speak to his family all that often, had a once a month phone call, and saw them at Thanksgiving and Christmas, but it didn’t change the fact that Hunter valued family. Some nights whilst they slept, Hunter woke up, breathing harsh, sweat pouring down him, the names of his brothers or parents on his lips. Sebastian knew better than to say anything, instead pretended that he was still asleep and hadn’t been woken by Hunter. Only after Hunter had lain back down and fallen back into his dreams did Sebastian press himself closer. Hunter always slept better after that.

Other days, Sebastian found Hunter staring at the map, eyes intent on Denver, lips moving but words silent as he mentally calculated how much further they had to walk before reaching their first destination.

“And you’re not going to tell me a thing, are you?” Sebastian sighed, rolling his eyes.

Hunter huffed out a sigh of his own. “There’s honestly not much to tell. I have two older brothers. My parents have been together for thirty-seven years. I was the youngest. It was shit, because they were overachievers and had done everything already. By the time I did anything, it wasn’t anything special because they’d done it before me.”

“Sounds lame.”

“It was.”

Their camp that night was beside a river. Sebastian had no idea where they were, but figured a night of camping beside the river wouldn’t be the worst place they’d stayed. The forest a few nights earlier had definitely topped that list. After setting up the tent a bare hundred yards from the water’s edge and getting a fire started, Hunter walked over to the river, examining the little inlet nearby. It would be suicide to go into the main bulk of the river given the way the water was coursing through it. The inlet, however, seemed peaceful and much safer to swim in.

As the weather had been warming, Hunter had had the bright idea to go swimming, claiming he needed a bath. Sebastian raised his eyebrows and watched as Hunter stripped off, dropping his clothing into a messy pile on the ground, and ran completely naked into the river.

His yells about how fucking cold it was left Sebastian lying on the thick grass, clutching his side in laughter. After that, Hunter became used to the cold water, swimming around in the small area that wasn't caught in the rapid stream of water. Sebastian hadn't seen Hunter swim in years, but he had to admit it was somewhat relaxing to watch him just glide effortlessly through the water, tanned arms and legs rising smoothly and slipping back in.

Sebastian leaned back on the grass, elbows propping him up as he watched Hunter slosh around, apparently enjoying the water greatly.

"You coming in?" Hunter called, standing up. The water only barely covered his bellybutton, droplets running down his body. He flicked his head, tossing a good amount of water from his hair, letting it spike strangely.

Sebastian raised his eyebrows at Hunter. "Are you freaking insane?"

"C'mon. It's not that cold once you get used to it."

"I like my balls not being blue, thanks," Sebastian said dryly.

Hunter waggled his eyebrows, smirking. "I'll keep them warm."

Sebastian rolled his eyes, but smirked back, running his eyes up and down Hunter's body. "Really now."

“Yup. Come here, and I’ll show you how.”

Against his better judgement, Sebastian stepped forward, and started shucking out of his clothes. “I’m only coming in because I’m also filthy.”

“Of course,” Hunter laughed as Sebastian stuck his foot in the water and winced.

“It’s fucking cold,” Sebastian pointed out, yanking his foot back. His feet squelched unpleasantly in the muddy water at the edge, and slowly, awkwardly, he brought himself in to the calf. The mud was soft beneath his feet and he sank slightly. His arms flailed out beside him and with a grimace, he brought himself in a little deeper. He started shivering, and Hunter laughed.

“Oh… my god. This is suicide. What if I wanted kids one day, Clarington?” Sebastian hissed when he finally got his hips underneath the cold water.

“Freezing your sperm is a thing.”

“I don’t think that’s what they meant.”

Hunter just laughed again, throwing his head back and wading closer to him, grin turning wicked. Before Sebastian could open his mouth to warn Hunter not to do what he was thinking, Sebastian was under water, sucking water into his lungs and then pushing up forcefully, choking and coughing horribly. The water burned his nose and he shoved Hunter as soon as he was stable. Hunter laughed, apparently amused greatly.

For a good minute, Sebastian hacked on the water he’d swallowed, pulling a face as tears ran down his face, nose dripping.

“I hate you,” Sebastian rasped, glaring up at Hunter from his hunched position.

Hunter grinned and moved closer to Sebastian.

“Oh no, no, you’re not going to do that to me again,” Sebastian frowned, wading backwards to get away from Hunter.

Hunter flicked his hands through the water and splashed Sebastian instead. That started a water fight that included Hunter lunging for Sebastian at regular intervals, attempting to push him under the water. Sebastian took great pains to stay out of his way, knowing that when it came to physical strength he couldn’t beat Hunter, instead relying on his speed.

Laughing, and spluttering, they finally relaxed. Hunter moved through the water, breathing hard, a grin wide on his face. He was suddenly very close to Sebastian, face closer than it usually was. That was something he’d noticed of late that had never been before.

In the past, there had been times he’d thought he and Hunter might have slept together, drunken times where they’d shared heated looks, eyes flickering from mouths to eyes, back and forth between the two. Each time, they’d been interrupted in one way or another, whether by a roommate bursting into the apartment, or one of them throwing up on the ground. When they’d first started sleeping together a few weeks ago now, they hadn’t had those same looks, but over the past few days, Sebastian had noticed them more and more.

Hunter would stare at him with an intensity that terrified and captivated Sebastian, bright blue lingering on Sebastian’s lips before into his own green eyes. There had been moments when he’d been  _so sure_  Hunter was going to kiss him, but each time Hunter had cleared his throat and looked away, rubbing an embarrassed hand over his neck.

A similar look was on Hunter’s face just then and for a moment, Sebastian wondered if this was going to be it, was going to be the first time Hunter was going to kiss him. Their eyes were locked, bodies close. He could see the droplets of water on Hunter’s face, could see each strand of thick stubble pushing out of his skin, each eyelash being clung to with water.

Hunter didn’t kiss him. Instead, he drew Sebastian closer, and with teeth biting his lower lip into a smirk, he slid a hand down Sebastian’s chest, stomach, and then gripped his half-hard dick.

Sebastian exhaled.

Hunter’s hand curled around him, teasing slightly, exploring gently and coaxing him into full hardness. He didn’t actually wrap his hand around Sebastian’s cock, just touched him lightly, not saying anything, grin sultry and smirking at the same time.

It was only when Hunter’s hand wrapped around Sebastian under the water that Sebastian realised that this was the first time Hunter had touched his dick. It was incredible. Despite them having been fucking quite consistently for, shit, how long, he was losing track of days… two weeks, maybe, Hunter had never actually done anything for Sebastian. He hadn’t touched his dick whilst fucking him, sucked him off. The furthest he’d gone was biting into his shoulder as he came.

Sebastian had just assumed it was a straight thing. Hunter was straight; he knew that, had long since accepted it, but they were both two young men with libidos and too much adrenaline. Sex was the perfect way to deal with that. Hunter had simply used Sebastian as a set of hot, tight holes, something to get himself off, and honestly, Sebastian hadn’t minded. He’d known from the beginning what this was.

It didn’t make sense that he was now jerking Sebastian off in the water, hand tight, a little rough, but pleasant.

Sebastian was not about to complain. Despite Hunter's confidence in most things in life, his hand was a little tentative once it started moving. However, the second Sebastian groaned, enjoying the attention greatly, Hunter's touches increased in confidence, hand tightening. It occurred at the back of Sebastian's mind that this was likely how Hunter jerked himself off, a little rough, hand tight, focussed towards the head.

Sebastian let his head fall back, huffing a laugh and moaning simultaneously. He shifted his feet slightly, pressing his hips closer to Hunter's hand, desperate for more. Hunter seemed to take the hint and started to jerk him a little harder and faster.

"Little..." Sebastian moaned softly again, "little softer..." He encouraged, hoping Hunter didn't take the notes as a criticism and stopped. It was good, so good, fucking incredible actually, just feeling Hunter’s hand on his hard cock, and he was thoroughly pleased when Hunter didn't stop, just took the advice on board and changed his movements.

Sebastian became aware of Hunter's hand sliding around his back, holding onto him, fingers digging into the small of his back. It was warm against the cold of the water, and he was surprised that he was even able to get up, able to enjoy things what with the iciness he felt around his legs. He brought his head forward, rested his forehead against Hunter's shoulder.

Hunter hastened his movements again, and from the light grumble in his throat, he seemed to be enjoying getting Sebastian off just as much.

"C'mon Bas..." Hunter encouraged, voice low and rough. He pushed his own hips up, allowing Sebastian to feel Hunter's erection against his hip, hard and heavy.

Sebastian was starting to shake a little, muscles quivering and clenching in anticipation. His orgasm was so close already, left him feeling like a teenage boy who came far too quickly. He told himself it was okay, nobody else had touched his dick in weeks, and that it was expected that he would get off easily. The heat was coiling and building in his stomach, through his thighs and hips.

"So close," he gasped out to Hunter, "keep going, keep going, fuck, don't change a fucking... thing... oh god..." He swore, if Hunter changed his movements, his grip, anything in the next thirty seconds, Sebastian didn't know what he'd do, but it'd be violent, and it would be to Hunter's dick. Hunter was actively grinding against Sebastian's stomach as well, and from his spot on Hunter's shoulder, he could see his neck flushing pink with arousal.

His orgasm rushed over him, almost without warning. With a gasp and then a groan, he came, teeth sinking into the thick muscle of Hunter's shoulder. Hunter matched his groan, head falling back and Sebastian felt his hips stutter, a flash of warmth hitting his stomach just over the water’s edge. Hunter's hand continued to stroke Sebastian's cock well after he'd finished coming, and Sebastian twitched, the continued movements making him whine softly from the over-sensitivity. Hunter's breathing was stuttered and heavy against Sebastian's ear.

Finally, Sebastian broke away, a weary grin on his face. "I wasn't expecting that when I came in."

Hunter's cheeks were pink (pink! Holy shit, seeing Hunter blush never got old!), and his eyebrows creased. "Yeah, well." He didn't offer an excuse, and Sebastian wasn't going to push it. He wanted Hunter to keep jerking him off and a sure fire way to get Hunter to never do that again would be to mock him or question him. He dropped his hand from Sebastian's back, the cold water rushing over the spot his hand had warmed, and his hand splashed in the water a little, washing the come from it.

"As nice as that was, I'm going to get out now before I get frostbite in my toes, okay?" Sebastian winked.

Hunter frowned at him. "Hold on, you didn't-" Sebastian swore, choking in water as Hunter kicked his feet out from under him, knocking him under the water again. Fuck, he should have seen it coming! "-finish washing yourself." Hunter crowed when Sebastian emerged again, coughing and spluttering, water in his eyes, nose and mouth.

"See you if you get a blowjob tonight..." Sebastian muttered, wading angrily from the water and quickly out of reach of Hunter before he could attempt drowning him again.

Behind him, he heard Hunter laugh, sound clear and pure.

After drying himself off and pulling some pants and a tee on, Hunter grabbed his shaving kit. They’d been rather minimal on the shaving since leaving New York, leaving most of their shaving to the days they hit towns. Boiling water was fine, but the only receptacles they had were the ones they ate out of; putting shaving cream and stubble in them didn’t seem all that appealing, so they left it for the most part. Apparently Hunter had tired of his burgeoning beard, and decided he was just going to shave with the water in the river.

Sebastian lay back on the grass a few metres from Hunter, watching him with interest. Hunter shaving was always a fascinating visual experience given that he had a straight razor, rather than the disposable ones Sebastian used. Sebastian had watched him on several occasions, honestly just fascinated with the experience. Hunter had an entire ritual, and it was unlike anything Sebastian had seen before. With that said, he’d never really watched many others shave; his one night stands didn’t exactly stick around to shower and shave the next morning. Shower sex, sure. But shaving? Far too domestic.

“Penny for your thoughts?” Hunter asked as he applied lather to his face, eyes flicking from the small mirror he’d set up on the ground to Sebastian.

Sebastian shrugged, giving him a small grin. “I’m bored, and watching you shave is always fun.”

Hunter raised his eyebrows, looking back at the mirror. “Straight razors are better than those disposables. Much cleaner shave.”

“Oh please, as if you could tell the difference.”

“You can tell by looking at someone.” Hunter flipped out his razor and carefully dragged it down the grain of his cheek, hand steady and quick. He flicked the lather off, rinsing it in the water. He moved onto the next inch of skin, still with the grain, moving methodically across his cheeks, neck, around his mouth and chin.

“Seems labour intensive,” Sebastian said after some time as Hunter pulled out his brush to apply the next layer of lather.

“Looks and feels better. Trust me.”

“I do,” Sebastian said without thinking, realising that he wasn’t just talking about Hunter’s opinion on straight razors versus disposables.

Hunter apparently heard something in his tone, because he looked over at Sebastian fully, and across the distance their eyes met for a solid minute. “I know,” Hunter said softly, finally dragging his eyes from Sebastian’s. Sebastian swallowed, heart racing. He wasn’t sure what had just happened then, but the moment had been charged, filled with something new and exciting and absolutely goddamn terrifying.

Hunter’s hands when they applied his next layer of lather were unsure for a stroke or two, but then he seemed to collect himself again, and his hand resumed its steady strokes. He put the brush back down in the lather and collected his razor again, cleaning it on a soft cloth before bringing it to his cheeks. He moved across the grain this time, his hand a little slower as he concentrated on not cutting himself. His hands were sure, and Sebastian hated to admit it, but he was entranced by the act. Once he was done with that, he applied a third layer, razor moving against the grain this time.

Eventually, he finished, and pressed his towel to his face, cleaning off the lingering spots of lather. Hunter inspected his face closely, running a hand over it to check for spots he may have missed. Apparently he was satisfied with his job, because he set the razor down and cleaned it.

Suddenly, his head was up, and he looked at Sebastian again. He jerked his head, indicating that Sebastian should come towards him. “Come over here,” he said, voice giving away nothing.

“Hmm?” Sebastian hummed, curious as to what Hunter was doing, if he was choosing now to slit his throat and leave him in the water.

“Your stubble looks ridiculous,” Hunter said, as if that explained everything.

Despite his hesitations, Sebastian shifted on the thick grass and moved the remaining feet between them and set himself down across from Hunter.

“I have a razor,” Sebastian pointed out, thinking about the blunted object he’d tortured himself with the week before. God, he really needed to raid a fresh razor from the next town they went to, his getting far too blunt to give a clean and painless shave.

“I know. I’m just going to show you that the straight razor is clearly superior,” Hunter told him. He pushed the lather across the small distance between them. “Okay. Lather up.”

Sebastian frowned at the brush and lather in front of him and, copying what he’d seen Hunter do, swirled some of the thickness onto the brush and then, watching the mirror carefully, applied it to his face. The smell was familiar and he realised with a mental palm to the forehead that of course it was; it smelled like Hunter, a kind of chocolaty smell he hadn’t even been aware that he associated with Hunter. The smell overwhelmed him, and his dick twitched a little. Once he was done, Hunter passed over his razor.

His grip on the instrument was wrong, apparently, because Hunter frowned and adjusted his hold, fingers cool against Sebastian’s as he attempted to fix his grip. Again, Sebastian’s heart started thumping violently in his chest, and he absently told it to shut up, because he was  _so_  not going there with Hunter. Feelings were not allowed.

“Okay, so first stroke is with the grain,” Hunter instructed, bringing his hands to rest on his crossed legs. “Hold it at an angle and…” He stopped as Sebastian brought it to his skin, and quick as a flash, Hunter’s hand shot out, gripping his wrist before he could actually touch it. “That’s a sure way to slice your skin open,” Hunter said, fingers still tight around his wrist. He frowned, face impatient. “Just give it here.”

Sebastian felt a flush of embarrassment flare through him as he passed it back. He reached for the towel, to wipe the lather away, but Hunter snatched that away too. “Why the fuck are you wiping it off? I’ll do it, show you what it’s meant to feel like.”

Oh. Sebastian raised his eyebrows and then smirked. “Going all Sweeney Todd on me?”

“Well, we are running low on food. I’m not ruling it out as an option,” Hunter retorted, no joke in his voice. Sebastian knew him well enough to know that it was, that dry humour was Hunter’s form.

Hunter shifted closer to Sebastian, until their knees were touching. He put one hand on Sebastian’s shoulder to steady him, and then brought his hand holding the razor close. “Okay, don’t move. Just… trust me.”

Sebastian gave the tiniest nod, trying not to think about how close Hunter’s face was to his, how much he was trusting him. Hunter had a horribly sharp blade and was going to be pulling it along his face countless times; if that wasn’t trust, Sebastian didn’t know what was.

He felt the first drag of the razor against his skin, Hunter’s hand smooth and steady, and no tremor noticeable to Sebastian at all. Sebastian wasn’t aware until Hunter had finished with his cheek that he’d been holding his breath, constantly anticipating to feel a sudden sharp sting of where Hunter had accidentally cut him.

Hunter navigated Sebastian’s face slowly but with surprising gentleness. He figured the lack of speed was due to the unfamiliar face, the different angles. He wasn’t going to complain, oddly enjoying the attention, the care that Hunter was showing. It was completely different for Hunter and something he’d never experienced from him before, and it bothered Sebastian just how much he was enjoying it. His heart was beating up a storm in his chest, and his stomach felt light and fluttery.

The razor dragged over Sebastian’s throat, and Hunter moved with greater care over that region, hand barely hesitating over his Adam’s apple. Finally, he gave a sharp nod and pulled the razor back, sitting back on his heels. He didn’t say anything though, just grabbed the lather and applied it to Sebastian’s face himself. He seemed to be in a rhythm now, and Sebastian wasn’t about to disturb him.

Hunter shaved across the grain this time, moving with a little more confidence. Up this close, Sebastian could see every eyelash of Hunter’s, lowered as he focussed on Sebastian’s neck and chin, and when his eyes flicked up, he could see different shades of blue, and yellow, flecked in his eyes, his pupils dilated. He could see the lines in his pink lips and… Sebastian exhaled shakily, trying desperately not to think about those lips.

Finally, Hunter hit the last lather, hands even gentler as he applied it, eyes constantly flicking up to meet Sebastian’s. There was something in his eyes that scared Sebastian, something unhidden and raw and… He knew exactly what it was because he was feeling it too. His mouth and lips felt dry, but the lather was on his lips, preventing him from licking moisture into them.

With greater care, and an aching gentleness, Hunter did the final shave, cutting up against the grain. When it was done, he looked away, cleaning the razor with hands that hadn’t been shaking when he’d shaved Sebastian’s face, but definitely were now. He then pressed the cool, damp cloth he’d used earlier on his own face to Sebastian’s face, wiping the remaining lather from his face.

He lay the cloth on the grass, and his eyes met Sebastian’s again. Sebastian saw Hunter swallow, lick his lips, and he felt Hunter’s cool fingers come to his chin, hand running over Sebastian’s face as if to check that he hadn’t missed any spots. Despite this, his hands felt exploratory and left tingles beneath the skin in every spot he touched. Sebastian could hardly breathe, could barely think, and he wondered absently if it was possible to have a heart attack at his age given the way his heart raced. Hunter’s hand came to rest on Sebastian’s jawline, and with an aching slowness and a gentleness Sebastian had never associated with Hunter until that past hour, Hunter kissed him.


	8. Chapter 8

_Days 30 to 37._

Hunter's lips eased around Sebastian's, gentle at first and then a little firmer as he exhaled. Hunter's warm breath settled on Sebastian's face; his lips were soft and warm, and nothing like Sebastian had ever imagined, but a thousand times better. He was aware of every little thing in that moment; the grass tickling his ankles and feet from where they poked out of his fatigues, the solidness of the ground beneath him. He could feel Hunter's hand come and rest on his calf, steadying himself, and his other hand cupped Sebastian's cheek. Sebastian's stomach could only be described as feeling weird, and his heart? Well, his heart was pounding harder and faster than the time they'd run from the Infected, than the first time he'd had sex, than his first piano recital. He felt light-headed and giddy and... all he could do was inhale slightly and then bring his own hand up to Hunter's face and bring him closer. Hunter deepened the kiss for a moment, teeth dragging lightly over Sebastian's lower lip before he pulled away gently, face the barest breath from his. He felt Hunter exhale again before withdrawing completely, his hand dropping from Sebastian's cheek. Sebastian hated the cool rush he felt from the lack of Hunter's hand and hated even more how utterly speechless he was.

He couldn't think, couldn't comprehend what had just happened.

Hunter had pulled away completely and was grabbing his shaving gear and packing it away efficiently, avoiding Sebastian's eyes. Sebastian remained seated, staring at Hunter with wide eyes, somewhat gobsmacked.

Finally, he managed to stumble out a, “Um, what the hell just happened?”

He saw Hunter swallow and look away, hands still attempting to tidy his shaving kit. “I just kissed you, dumbass.”

“Yeah, I got that,” Sebastian sputtered. “What I want to know is why?”

Hunter stood quickly, tucking his shaving kit under his arm and walked a few steps back towards their little camp. “Don't question it,” he all but ordered and then started off towards the camp again.

Sebastian rolled his eyes and stood himself, determined to go after Hunter and figure out what the fuck had just happened, or rather, what had really happened. Hunter did everything for a reason, every movement calculated. The fact that he kissed Sebastian had to have had a reason, and he wasn't going to let Hunter walk away without giving him some damn answers.

Hunter was folding his shaving kit into his backpack when Sebastian caught up to him. Hunter stood, almost running directly into Sebastian.

“Jesus Sebastiammmf—” His words were cut off by Sebastian pressing his lips to Hunter's. Hunter took all of three (heart-wrenching, stomach-tightening) seconds to respond, before he finally relaxed and pulled Sebastian closer, arms wrapped around his waist and settling on the small of his back and dragging him right to Hunter's chest. Sebastian's own long arms went to wrap around Hunter's neck. The kiss this time lasted a great deal longer, Hunter's mouth sure and strong against Sebastian's, giving and taking as he pleased. He didn't hold back, teeth and tongue coming into the equation quickly, a low rumble vibrating through his body.

Eventually, Hunter began to ease the kiss, hand resting on Sebastian's jawline, placing softer kisses on Sebastian's mouth as he slowed things down.

“No,” Sebastian growled, chasing Hunter's mouth, desperate for more. God, he'd been imagining this for longer than he cared to admit, and now, Hunter was kissing him. He was not about to let that go any time soon. He didn't care if this was just Hunter experimenting, he just... he just had to have more, and was going to take as much as he could before Hunter could stop things and he was never allowed to kiss him again.

Hunter seemed to get the message, the both of them stumbling slightly as Hunter lead them backwards to their tent, sitting awkwardly as he eased into the small space, bringing Sebastian down with him. Their mouths barely parted from one another, and Sebastian was more than willing to deal with the awkwardness as long as he kept on kissing Hunter.

Once inside the tent, Sebastian took charge, pulling Hunter down onto the sleeping bags on top of him, hands sliding under his shirt. They could talk later. Or never. Honestly, Sebastian had never been a fan of the whole talking thing. For now, he was going to enjoy Hunter's mouth whilst his fingers explored Hunter's body in new ways that he'd formerly not been permitted.

Hunter lay across Sebastian's body, one hand sliding under Sebastian's shirt. Sebastian couldn't help but melt into the touch; Hunter had been very restrained in his touches to Sebastian when they'd fucked, barely touching him at all and only when necessary. His hands exploring now were sinful and perfect, and it was all Sebastian could do not to moan weakly and cling to Hunter.

Fucking Hunter whilst being allowed to kiss him was something new and terribly exciting.  Sebastian had never been much of a kisser during sex; sure, it happened, but to be frank, most of his kisses occurred on the dance floor, rather than the bedroom (or the bathroom stalls). Even in a friend with benefits situation, he rarely kissed, positions not allowing for it. Sebastian liked getting fucked on his hands and knees, or fucking someone from behind, and kissing was distracting when he was riding someone.

Kissing Hunter was strange. It was different. It was... wonderful. Sebastian rarely had emotional attachments to the people he was fucking. Maybe it was because it was the end of the world. Or maybe years of being Hunter's best friend were coming to the surface. All he knew was that Hunter's mouth on his made his heart race, his stomach feel full of butterflies, and that kissing Hunter honestly made him happier than he could ever remember being. He refused to think about the possibility that he liked Hunter as more than his best friend, but his body told him otherwise. Yeah, he'd think about that later.

For now, he just wanted to focus on the feel of Hunter's mouth over his, the way his body felt truly pressed into his, his hands finally exploring Sebastian. He was a hard, comforting form over him and Sebastian wanted to cling to him, determined not let go until the world righted itself. Instead of doing that, he just... let himself go.

Hunter drew back for a moment, and Sebastian's eyes shot open, a whine escaping his throat unbidden. Before he could verbally protest, however, Hunter was tugging Sebastian's shirt up and over his head, letting it pillow under his head a little. Taking that as his cue, Sebastian drew Hunter's tee up as well, dropping it beside them.

They'd fucked before. They hadn't lain with their naked chests touching however, and when Hunter lay down against Sebastian, a tiny sound escaped Sebastian's mouth, a shudder flowing from Hunter's body into his. It felt electric and hot, something Sebastian hadn't experienced before.

By the time Hunter pressed himself inside of Sebastian, Sebastian’s fingers slick with lube from preparing himself, Sebastian was a hot mess. He hadn’t felt so destroyed in his life, nor so desperate. And fuck, he’d fucked on drugs before. Hunter kissed him the second his hips touched the backs of Sebastian’s thighs, capturing Sebastian’s throaty groan.

Hunter was no gentler in fucking him this time than any other time, still rough and hard in his thrusts, but there was something closer, more intense about their coupling this time. He didn’t know if it was the way Hunter kissed him, or buried his head in his neck, or ran his hands through his hair, or even if it was because they were fucking with Sebastian’s knees over Hunter’s shoulders, rather than fucking him from behind… But it was different, more intimate than previously.

Sebastian came biting down into Hunter’s shoulder, nails dragging down his back. Hunter had surprisingly been holding himself out for Sebastian’s own orgasm, and came shortly after, kissing him with unexpected softness as he came down.

Further shocking Sebastian was that when he pressed a quick kiss to Hunter’s mouth in their post-coital bliss, Hunter pulled him back and spent the next few minutes kissing him wordlessly, hands continuing to explore his body, running through his hair and crossing his cheeks at times. Eventually, they parted, blinking wordlessly at each other.

Finally, curiosity got the better of him. “Okay, what was that all about?” he questioned softly, eyes studying Hunter’s face. For the first time, Hunter’s expression seemed somewhat open, eyes soft, lips parted as he breathed the same air as Sebastian.

His question didn’t break the moment. He’d expected Hunter to groan, sit up and bitch about how Sebastian couldn’t just leave well enough alone. Hunter’s eyes left Sebastian’s face though, and shuttered slightly, closing up minutely before he sighed. “Problem?”

Sebastian shook his head. “Just surprised is all.” He enjoyed sex, and he definitely enjoyed a good make out session; who was he to complain?

Hunter shrugged. “I kissed you because I wanted to. That’s all there is to it.” He brought his hand back to Sebastian’s smooth cheek and kissed him for another good minute, nose brushing Sebastian’s. By the time he drew away, Sebastian felt giddy but he wasn’t sure from what.

Slowly, he recalled Hunter’s words and laughed. “That’s just because you haven’t seen boobs or pussy in about a month. Kissing is just another thing on top of that.”

Hunter fixed him with an odd look, shifting back slightly and propping himself up on an arm. “Why… would that matter?”

Sebastian blinked. “Because you’re straight, and last I checked, straight men liked those things.”

“I’ve been sleeping with you for the past month,” Hunter pointed out, a slight crease filling his forehead, eyes confused, his cheeks starting to colour again.

“Yeah but…” Sebastian frowned himself, not sure exactly what point he was trying to make. He’d figured Hunter had only been sleeping with him because, well, sex was sex, and Sebastian was the closest person he could have sex with. Sure, Sebastian may have been developing… something for Hunter, but he didn’t think Hunter was even on the same lake, let alone in the same boat. The kissing, yeah, that was a little weird and different, but maybe Hunter had missed that from having sex with girls too? “I figured that was, just, yanno, something to get you off. To put it crudely, a set of holes is a set of holes.”

Hunter frowned. “No. Believe it or not, I have more self-control than that.”

“Meaning?” Sebastian prompted, not wanting to jump to any conclusions.

“Meaning...” Hunter cleared his throat, pursing his lips for a moment, eyes not catching Sebastian’s as he attempted to come up with the right words. Hunter had always been about actions; words were harder for him. “You're not just a set of holes.”

Sebastian sat back a little, blinking several times in shock; that genuinely surprised him. “I'm not following.”

“Um. Well...” He rubbed his hand over the back of his neck and mumbled something indiscernible, eyes low now. Sebastian had  _never_  seen Hunter act like this, shy and uncomfortable. Despite his obvious discomfort, he didn’t untangle his leg from Sebastian’s or draw his hand away from where it rested on the dip just above Sebastian’s waist. Instead, his fingers played absently with the skin, a seemingly nervous tic he had.

“What was that?” Sebastian said, leaning forward in an attempt to understand what he'd said.

“I...” Hunter coughed slightly, outright frowning now. “I might have... you know, been questioning things. Recently.”

“Re...garding your sexuality?” Sebastian hesitated. He felt as if he were approaching a scared dear (and fuck, that was something he’d never ever through he’d attribute to Hunter), and that if he moved too quickly, he’d leap away, close off and never speak of this topic again.

“Yes,” he said, his tone matter of fact, and expression finally closed.

“Well then.” Sebastian himself sat up slightly, leaning on his elbows and regarded Hunter with a smirk. “I wouldn't have picked that.”

Hunter shrugged and rolled his eyes, but still didn’t shift away. Sebastian leaned across the few inches of space between their faces and kissed him again. Hunter’s hands came up around him, wrapping around his back and bringing him in tightly, chest to chest.

“What made…  _when_  did you decide to start 'questioning'?” Sebastian asked when they broke away, truly curious now.

Hunter's face broke into a smirk, and Sebastian knew the Hunter he was used to was back in full force. No more emotions would be seen for at least another six years now; he’d used his quota up. “Some asshole roommate has been kind of… catching my eye for the past few months now.”  

Sebastian couldn't stop the laugh from bubbling out of his throat. “Really now?” He teased, and started thinking about it, trying to look for signs. Sure, Hunter had spent more nights at home with Sebastian, and had been a bigger dick than usual to his fuck buddies, and… he hadn’t used his usual line of  _Still straight, Smythe_  since at least October the year before. Well, fuck him sideways. Hunter  _liked_  him, and had for months.

“Yeah. He's kind of a dick, but... he's not all that bad to look at.” It went unsaid, but Sebastian could hear the  _Plus I kind of like him_  in his voice, could see it in the way Hunter smirked at him, and then kissed him again.

They fucked again, close and tight, Sebastian on top of Hunter, legs wrapped around his waist Hunter sitting and kissing every inch of Sebastian’s skin that he could reach, hands holding his ass, running down his back. Sebastian’s legs trembled as he fucked down onto Hunter, Hunter’s hand finding his cock between their bodies. He came shuddering and whining into Hunter’s mouth, Hunter’s head falling back as he gasped and bucked into Sebastian, his back arching before he fell back to their little nest of sleeping bags, panting heavily.

Sebastian barely pulled off of him before lying down across Hunter’s chest, cuddling in close. Sebastian wasn’t a cuddler, and nor was Hunter, but something about just this one moment in time made it okay. Finally, as the sweat cooled on their bodies and the sky outside darkened, Sebastian propped his chin up on Hunter’s sternum, and gave him a trademark smirk.

“So. Bicurious, huh?”

Hunter rolled his eyes. “Do we really have to talk about this?” He brought an arm to rest under his head, the other staying on Sebastian’s shoulder where he rubbed the tight muscles gently.

“Oh c’mon. You’ve spent the past six years telling me how  _straight_  you are, and now you tell me that I’ve at least made you question things enough for you to regularly sleep with me? You owe me answers.”

“I owe you nothing, actually,” Hunter retorted.

It was Sebastian’s turn to roll his eyes. “Fine, you don’t owe me, but it’d be nice to know.”

Hunter sighed. “Bisexual. Not bicurious anymore.”

Sebastian cackled. “Happy to have helped solve that sexuality crisis.”

“Haha,” Hunter deadpanned.

“Still, I have one question,” Sebastian said, the thought suddenly occurring to him.

“Shoot,” Hunter sighed, looking mildly amused.

“Tonight has been the first time you’ve touched me at all. Before, it made sense for you not to jerk me off while you were fucking me, because I thought you were straight and didn’t want to touch cock. But now I find out otherwise?”

“I’m a perfectionist,” Hunter said finally.

“So?” Sebastian asked, not understanding what he meant.

“And I’ve never been with a guy.”

_Oh._  Sebastian understood instantly. For as long as he’d known Hunter, he’d never done anything unless he was certain he’d be excellent at it. When he’d found out he couldn’t do a headstand, and Sebastian and his roommate could, he’d stormed away. A few weeks later, he’d revealed he could, and did a perfect headstand for several minutes. When he’d discovered he was terrible at basketball, he’d refused to play with Sebastian and his friends until he could score from every angle around the hoop, up close and far away. He hadn’t let anyone see him play until he was no less than excellent.

Now? Now he hadn’t been with a guy before, and was sleeping with one, and one that had a lot of experience. Of course he hadn’t touched Sebastian; he was likely concerned with giving a less than stellar performance.

“I can teach you,” Sebastian winked.

Hunter raised his eyebrows. “That defeats the purpose then.”

“Hunt, really. Short of blowing a banana or dildo, there’s no way you’re going to get practice. Besides, every guy is different. What’s perfect for you may not be perfect for me. I’d be  _more_ than happy to guide you through.”

“I’m sure you would be,” Hunter stated flatly. He seemed to think about it for a moment. “Fine,” he agreed. “Now get the fuck off me. We haven’t eaten, and I’m  _hungry_.”

As Hunter started rummaging through the packs, he frowned and sighed. He withdrew a few silver packets, tossing them in the direction of Sebastian, flopping on the thick grass around them. Hunter then pulled the map out of a pocket of his bag and stared at it for a few minutes, frown deepening.

Sebastian sighed, and wandered off into the darkness to grab some firewood, his small torch flickering as he went. They needed more batteries, it seemed. When he returned, Hunter was still staring at the map, frown deep and concerned.

“Okay, what's wrong?” Sebastian said, setting up the fire cautiously. He still wasn't completely certain of how to do it, but he'd watched Hunter numerous times and he was fairly sure he could do it. He grabbed the cigarette lighter out of Hunter's bag and after several failed attempts, the fire caught. With a wide grin and a crow of victory, Sebastian sat back on his heels, delighted to see the kindling slowly catch, the paper smoking.

Hunter came and sat across from him, the other side of the fire, his face heavily shadowed in the darkness.

“We're running low on food,” Hunter said, a frown on his face.

Sebastian raised his eyebrows. He hadn't known, or even suspected that. Hunter was the one who kept an eye on their rations, and carried the food packs. Sebastian was the one who carried their water. “How low?”

“We've got enough for breakfast and dinner tonight, but after that... nothing.”

Sebastian felt a flare of concern raise within him. “Okay,” he said slowly, trying to think about this logically, how Hunter would think about it. “Well, we just pick some up in the next town,” he said, hoping that was the right answer. Dealing with Hunter's long-suffering sighs were always kind of humiliating.

“That'd be great except we don't hit another town for two days,” Hunter said, lips twitching into an expression of full concern. “And I might be great at everything but, despite my name, I have no idea how to hunt. And even if I could shoot an animal, of which we're seeing remarkably few, we'd then have to work out how to skin it, and cook it. Again, not a fucking clue on how to do those things.” Hunter's face looked pained, and Sebastian knew why. Hunter hated not knowing things, hated not being an absolute expert at things. To admit that he didn't know how to do something, even something as abstract as hunting and preparing animals, it was something he obviously felt was a vital flaw in his character.

“Can we...” Sebastian tried desperately to think of something, some kind of solution, “just not eat?” The idea of killing an animal and then skinning it turned his stomach. He felt queasy at the thought.

Hunter glared. “Sure, Smythe, let's just not eat for two days, whilst trying to walk forty miles per day. Let's do that.”

“Shit, fuck, okay, bad idea,” Sebastian said, surprised by the venom in Hunter's voice. It had just been a suggestion. Sheesh. In an effort to avoid Hunter's glare, he reached into his bag and grabbed out the cooking supplies. As he set about boiling the water, and then adding the soup mix to it, he sighed. “Okay, do we have any other options?”

“Nope,” Hunter stated, eyes glued on the map he'd gone back to. “Unless you want to start killing animals, we just have to wait until we hit the next town.”

Sebastian shook his head violently. No way was he going to start killing animals. Sure, he could attack a steak like nobody's business, but he preferred not to think that the delicious murder he was consuming came from animals.

Their soup began boiling and thickening, and Sebastian withdrew the pot to add the freeze dried meats and vegetables, stirring the pot slowly so as not to create the lumps Hunter managed to avoid creating all of the time. By the time he spooned the finished product out, he couldn't help but feel a tiny flare of happiness at himself. He'd never really been good at cooking, so to have successfully made their dinner was a nice stroke of his ego.

Hunter took the bowl with a nod of thanks, and dug into it with gusto. Sebastian watched him for a moment before realising he was staring, and quickly started heaping his own food into his mouth, almost burning his tongue in the process. Questions flickered through his mind, insistent thoughts that he really ought to think about these strange feelings he was having for his best friend, but... Sebastian really didn't want to think about them. He had always been a pro at avoiding his emotions, not thinking about what it could mean, whatever it was at the time. He'd never been in love, or even in a relationship of any kind. He wasn't in love with Hunter, he couldn't be. But a voice nagged at him, telling him it wasn't just sex either. Hunter was his best friend, his closest buddy, and sure, he might have crushed on Hunter when they first met, but that had faded into a tight friendship. Sure, they didn't sit around and talk about their feelings to each other, but they'd always been there for each other as necessary, usually with a bottle of rum or champagne, depending on whether the occasion was shit or wonderful.

He wasn't in love with Hunter, but his feelings definitely ran deeper than just a fuck buddy. None of his former fuck buddies had made him feel... anything like this. They hadn't caused his stomach to flutter or made him desperate to kiss him. Sebastian rarely fucked anyone when he could see their face, and yet, when he was with Hunter, he wanted to watch his expressions, see the pleasure and lust flicker over his features. Sebastian had never been a snuggler in bed and struggled to sleep with anyone touching him, but when he slept beside Hunter he fell into a deep sleep, a nightmare free zone. He looked over the fire between them, and found Hunter staring at him with his own curious expression, head cocked to the side and eyebrows raised.

Sebastian clamped down on all of his thoughts, the stupid thoughts that imagined he and Hunter falling asleep and waking together every day, exchanging filthy good morning kisses, slow morning fucks, showering together, and watching movies on the couch together (but with them lounging against each other; actually, Sebastian was a touchy-feely person as a general rule and had used Hunter's strong legs as his pillow for the past four years, since he'd learned that there was no way Hunter was going to punch his pretty face in).

He had to avoid those thoughts. Sebastian Smythe didn't do feeling. He didn't do love. He didn't do monogamy. Or relationships. Or... whatever the fuck they were doing. Hunter had admitted to being curious about his feelings for Sebastian since October, but he hadn't admitted to actually liking Sebastian. Fuck, he didn't know what they were. Did it really matter? For now, all they had to do was survive this damn zombie apocalypse or whatever. They had to live, and get to California, and get to safety, and then... maybe then Sebastian would think about things. At that moment in time, he didn't want to think about anything. He looked back over at Hunter, surprised to see Hunter watching him with a smirk, laying back and leaning on his elbows, legs bent slightly, his clean bowl to the side. Sebastian put his own finished dinner down and with a smirk of his own, he crawled around the campfire. When he reached him, Hunter's head craned up to meet Sebastian's kiss. Sebastian's fingers rested on Hunter's smooth cheeks (oh wow, that straight razor was magical it seemed), and curled into the soft hairs just around his ears. Hunter's mouth was still perfect against his, and all confusing thoughts slipped through his fingers like water. All that mattered right then was Hunter.

Surviving without food was harder than Sebastian had thought. He was aware of the science of it, knew that for a few days they'd be able to survive. It didn't make it mentally any easier. His stomach rumbled constantly, and he felt weak and headachy. Hunter had been bitchier than his normal self, and the going had been slow, both of them too exhausted to move any faster. For the millionth time, Sebastian wished they were taking an easier route, one that included more towns, if only so they could break into houses and raid pantries. Alas, the countryside passed by them in a blur, no towns or even little homesteads in sight.

He slept deeply for two nights, too exhausted even for sex. That had suited Hunter fine, apparently, muttering something about conserving energy, and what a fucking idiot he'd been to let their supplies get so low, how if they'd stuck to the fucking schedule they'd have reached a town in time. Sebastian knew that if he'd had more energy, Hunter would have been raging further, likely yelling at Sebastian for slowing them down, and punching trees in frustration. Luckily, he lacked the energy. Instead just wrapped himself protectively around Sebastian as they slept.

By mid morning on the third day, they hit a town called Hannibal, something Sebastian found endlessly amusing if only for the cannibalism implication. Sebastian had attempted desperately to think of a joke about cannibalism, and Hunter eating him in an effort to survive, but that had only resulted in a glare so cold that Sebastian wondered if hell froze over.

“You've got to be fucking kidding me...” Sebastian swore as the line of the town came up over the horizon. “What the fuck have they been feeding on?” Sebastian asked incredulously, as if Hunter might magically know the answer. A hoard of Infected were around the edges of the town, tearing into... oh, great, cattle. Well, that explained what they'd been eating over the past however many weeks.

Hunter pursed his lips. “Okay, we have to be careful. We can't go around them, there's too many and... I'm fucking exhausted. And we're running low on ammo. Don't fire aimlessly; be really careful.”

Sebastian rolled his eyes and pulled his semi automatic from his back, adding a magazine to it. “Please, we both know I'm an excellent shot.”

“Don't get cocky,” Hunter advised, eyes serious and boring into Sebastian's. Sebastian finally sighed, shoulders slumping. He was too tired to argue. Hunter grabbed his own gun from his back, and without even intending it, in perfect unison they walked into range. As soon as they were close enough, Sebastian fired, bullet whizzing through the air to tear the head off a Creature. Hunter's own shots followed shortly after. The Creatures came at them, but Sebastian and Hunter's years of shooting practice allowed them to quickly pick them off.

Once they were certain things were clear, they walked past the fallen Creatures and into the deserted town. They weren't so lucky to find the town completely empty though. Killing Creatures was one thing. Seeing their flesh and blood splattering around was somehow okay. They weren't real humans any more.

They were a few streets in when they crossed a small family lying in the streets. They were torn apart. A little girl was missing her leg, and sobbing weakly in the gutter. The blood coming from her was sluggish now, and she seemed barely coherent, her glazed eyes barely registering Sebastian and Hunter walking into sight. A man that Sebastian assumed was her father had a stump for an arm, bleeding a little harder. His good arm was wrapped around the little girl, and blood trickled down his face. Why the Creatures hadn't been devouring them, Sebastian didn't know. At that moment, all he could focus on was... Nope. He turned to the side and vomited, barely avoiding his boots. These were living people. Sebastian was no humanitarian, not by any stretch, but seeing this was horrific.

“Please!” The man shouted, words garbled, when he saw them, the sound of Sebastian's retching apparently alerting him to their presence. “Please help us!” The man mumbled, voice broken and raw.

Sebastian stood fully, wiping his mouth, stomach still roiling with the sight and smell of their blood. He looked over at Hunter; his face was white, expression completely closed. His lips were pursed, and Sebastian could see the clenching of his jaw. Hunter nodded at the man wordlessly, and stepped forward a few steps. He raised his gun, and Sebastian swore he heard Hunter breathe an “I'm sorry,” but couldn't be sure.

Hunter shot, the crack of the bullet leaving his gun ringing through the town.

The man's head shattered under the impact of the bullet. The little girl screamed before her voice was cut off by another gunshot resounding through the town. Her body slumped into her dead father's arms.

“What the fuck did you do that for?” Sebastian shouted before he even became aware he was. “Why did you kill them? They asked for help!” Oh god, Hunter had killed two suffering people in cold blood. He'd killed humans in cold blood. Sebastian was nearly sick again.

Hunter turned to him, expression dead. “What could we have done, Sebastian? Did you not see their missing body parts? What the fuck could we have done to help them? I ended their suffering for them. I did them a goddamn favour,” he spat, cold fury in his voice.

“We could have at least tried.”

“Oh please,” Hunter scoffed. “When did you become a human rights advocate? Or a doctor? There was nothing we could have done. Now get the fuck over it, and let's get some fucking food.” Back tense, Hunter stormed off, looking for somewhere that might have food.

Sebastian looked back at the mangled bodies, insides freezing over, and with an ache in his chest, he followed Hunter.

They managed to locate a small store with rotting food but an assortment of canned goods. At that point, Sebastian didn’t feel all that hungry, but he grabbed as many cans as he could physically fit into his bag, watching as Hunter did the same. They broke into a small motel, avoiding another small group of Infected as they did.

“Are you okay?” Sebastian asked as they settled in.

Hunter started, breaking free from his daze. “Yeah, fine.”

“Don’t seem it,” Sebastian pointed out lightly. “You seem kind of out of it, actually.”

Hunted sighed. “I’ve never killed anyone before.” He pushed himself out of his chair, taking his gun with him as he walked outside. A brief surge of panic ran through Sebastian, terrified that Hunter was going to kill himself before remembering he was likely doing it to protect himself if necessary.

Sebastian didn’t follow. One thing he’d learned from Hunter over the years was that when he was struggling, he needed to be left alone. Sebastian had never had a significant other, but about three years ago, Hunter did. They’d dated for a few months, but Hunter hadn’t seemed all that interested. When they’d broken up, he’d isolated himself for three days before returning to normal. When Sebastian had an HIV scare last August, Hunter had stormed out of the apartment and not come back for six hours. When one of his friends, a cop, died in the line of duty, he’d not spoken for a week. Hunter didn’t do  _weakness_ ; he just dealt with things on his own, which included avoiding anyone and everyone.

Several hours later, when Sebastian lay in his sleeping bag on the bed, half asleep, Hunter returned. Sebastian had been unable to sleep thanks to a combination of worrying about Hunter (not that he’d ever admit it), his stomach aching from consuming far too much food in one go, and the images of the dying pair from earlier playing through his mind over and over again.

He heard Hunter set his gun on the bedside table, shuck off his clothing, and felt the mattress dip as he slid into the bed beside Sebastian, spooning him up, knees resting in Sebastian’s bent knees, chest hard against Sebastian’s back.

“You okay?” Sebastian asked softly into the darkness, after listening to Hunter’s steady breathing for a minute.

Hunter pressed a soft kiss to the back of Sebastian’s neck. “Yeah,” he breathed finally, sounding like he meant it as much as he could, given the circumstances.

Sebastian fell into sleep easily then, soothed by Hunter’s hold on him. As the night passed, they separated a little, Sebastian sprawling across the bed, Hunter somewhat sprawling on top of him, his leg thrown over Sebastian’s, an arm tossed over his back. When they had the space, it was how they’d become accustomed to sleeping, only sticking close in the sleeping bags due to lack of space.

Hunter did not seem to sleep as well as Sebastian. Sebastian was woken by Hunter twitching, his body shaking until he heard a sudden, sharp intake of breath.

“Hunt…?” Sebastian mumbled, rubbing his face into the sleeping bag, turning around to look at Hunter. “Something happen?”

Hunter was breathing hard beside him, and actually… holy shit, was Hunter trembling?

“Go back to sleep, Bas,” Hunter said eventually. “Just a bad dream.”

“Okay…” Sebastian sighed, already back on the verge of sleep again. He shifted himself around so that he was spooning Hunter this time. He suspected the nightmare was about the killings Hunter had made earlier, but Hunter wouldn’t admit that. Sebastian just went with what he thought was best, and comforted him in the only way he suspected might help.

Under his arms, he felt Hunter’s heart rate ease and his breathing return to normal. The trembling stopped, and as Sebastian fell into a deep sleep, Hunter released a soft snore, indicating he was sleeping peacefully again.


	9. Chapter 9

_Days 37 to 45._

Another three towns passed with several nights camping by the road. Despite the increase in food due to taking some in each town they encountered, Hunter seemed to be wearing thin. Sebastian could see his eyes were tired and dead in ways he'd never seen before, and he wasn't standing with his usual perfect posture. His feet dragged when he walked, and whilst he was still fucking Sebastian regularly, he'd allowed Sebastian to ride him for the past few days instead, too exhausted to bring himself to fuck with the same vigour. Each night, he fell into a heavy sleep and struggled to get up each morning.

Sebastian had arisen a while ago and had set the horrible instant coffee on to boil. Outside of their motel room, the rain thundered down. Occasionally, the sky lit up with lightning and the floor shook with the following thunder. He sat in one of the rickety motel chairs with his mug of coffee and stared outside, frowning. To say that he wasn't looking forward to walking in that was an understatement. He wasn't actually sure of the protocol; despite them having been on the run for the past forty days (he'd sat down with the map two nights ago and plotted how long ago the world had changed), they'd been lucky enough to avoid rain. Sure, there had been days it had been overcast, and spattered with drizzle, but there had been no storms, nothing like the near cyclonic storm outside.

In the bed across the room, Hunter slept soundly, skin looking pallid against the olive green of the bedspread. Sebastian didn't admit it aloud but he'd been growing concerned. Since Hunter had killed the little girl and her father, he'd been sleeping poorly, twitching with nightmares at least once a night. Sebastian didn't attempt to wake him, not knowing what to say. Instead, Sebastian would just wrap himself tightly around Hunter, run his fingers through Hunter's hair and massage his scalp gently until the trembling and whimpers stopped and Hunter fell back into a dreamless sleep.

The sky outside opened again, sending heavier rain down on them. Sebastian glanced at the little battery operated clock beside the queen sized bed, noting it was well past ten. Hunter hadn't stirred, not even to go to the bathroom. Sebastian drained his coffee, and set the mug on the windowsill before moving easily over to the bed, absently rubbing the mostly healed wound on his arm. Something about the rain made it feel… what was the word he was looking for… tight? Regardless, it was a little sorer somehow. He climbed onto the bed, easing under the blankets and wrapping an arm around Hunter. He gently nuzzled Hunter's neck and kissed him in several places. Hunter didn't shift.

"Hunt..." Sebastian crooned, not really wanting to wake him up, but also wanting to know what Hunter's plans for heavy rain were. "Hunt..." He said a little louder when Hunter's eyelids didn't so much as twitch. He shook Hunter's shoulder then, and finally, Hunter groaned.

"What?" he groaned at Sebastian, eyes still closed as he buried his head in Sebastian's neck.

"It's raining outside," Sebastian said.

"Congratu-fucking-lations. What about it?"

"We going to walk today?" Sebastian asked, laughing softly.

Hunter shook his head, his stubble scratching Sebastian's collarbone. "Too... tired," he finally admitted, sounding so weary despite having an excessive fourteen hours of sleep. "Plus rain."

Sebastian grinned and pressed an absent kiss to the top of Hunter's head. He lay there for a moment. He was almost certain that Hunter had fallen back to sleep when Hunter grunted and pushed himself up and off of Sebastian's chest and out of the comforting warmth of the bed.

"What's up?" Sebastian asked, sitting up, the blanket falling from his chest to pool in his lap.

"Bathroom..." Hunter grunted, and when he tried to stand, he managed to do so for a brief second before crumbling to the ground. Panic rose through Sebastian quickly, and he struggled against the quilt as he attempted to get over to Hunter. Hunter was groaning, his hand on the side of the bed as he pulled himself up to sit on it. He sat on the edge, burying his head in his hands, rubbing his face.

"Hunter, you okay? What happened?" Sebastian asked, trying not to think about the worry that was clearly coming through his voice.

Hunter shrugged. "Legs are tired. Whole body is." He didn't seem to be all that surprised, voice resigned. "Just... gotta warm up to standing I guess," he said, exhaling heavily.

Sebastian rested a hand on Hunter's bare shoulder, a frown on his face. He didn't like this, didn't like that Hunter had fallen. Hunter was supposed to be strong and impenetrable, and to see him display any kind of weakness, whether physical or not, was a surprise and more than a little unnerving for Sebastian.

Eventually, Hunter pushed himself off the bed and managed to stumble his way to the bathroom, the door clicking behind him. When he returned to Sebastian, he slumped onto the bed, and lay on top of the covers as if moving to re-situate himself was too much effort for him just then. Sebastian was somewhat concerned when he realised it likely was too much effort.

"Can I help?" Sebastian asked, frowning at him. Outside, the lightning flashed and a few seconds later, there was a heavy rumble of thunder. On the bed, Hunter shook his head.

"Just want to sleep."

Sebastian nodded, and pulled the blanket down the bed to wrap around Hunter's shoulders. Hunter was fast asleep by the time Sebastian had the covers tucked around his shoulders. With a roll of the eyes, and a mild flash of concern, Sebastian figured he may as well get some sleep as well.

He strolled over to the window, opening it a crack to provide some fresh air for the stuffy room and allow him to hear the rain more clearly. He didn't like being out in storms, but there was always something to be said to listening to them. He closed the curtains, wanting a little more darkness, and then returned to Hunter's side. Hunter was snoozing peacefully in the blanket, but Sebastian wanted in on it. With far too much effort, and Hunter being a complete dead weight, Sebastian manoeuvred Hunter around. Sebastian pressed himself back against him, forcing the sleeping Hunter to spoon him. It amused Sebastian greatly that months ago, if anyone touched him whilst he slept, he would wake up. Now, however, if he wasn't touching Hunter while he slept, well, he didn't sleep at all if Hunter wasn't touching him.

For a time, he lay there, just... thinking. Things between he and Hunter were different. He hadn't expected things to change between them, except for maybe the sex to increase. As it was, things were not the same, but what frustrated Sebastian was that he couldn't even pick how things were different. He and Hunter kissed a great deal more, yes. And they slept with each other, both in the completely normal sleeping way and the sexual way. Hunter sometimes smiled at him, a big grin that he saw so rarely back in New York, but one he'd actually only ever seen Hunter give to him alone. That smiled popped out a few times per day now, and it felt strange and wonderful in Sebastian's chest. Hunter had admitted to have been... "interested" in something more with Sebastian for months now. In true Hunter form, he'd analysed he situation and had elected not to mention anything, wanting to be completely certain of his feelings and also not wanting to jeopardise his friendship. After all, they'd been best friends for years, and Sebastian was so anti anything even remotely relationship-like. Hunter had insisted to Sebastian that he wasn't necessarily after a relationship, but he'd known that if he made any reference to emotional attachment to Sebastian, Sebastian would have run for the hills.

Sebastian would have been the first to agree with all of Hunter's comments. Had Hunter approached him back when things were normal, regardless of his own feelings for Hunter, Sebastian would have fucked Hunter and then fled, his own morals wanting him as far from that kind of thing as possible. He'd always kind of lingered on his feelings with Hunter, the thoughts and tingling feelings staying at the back of his mind through the years, never something to act on, but always present.

Honestly, he knew Hunter had made the right decision. Months ago, it would have fucked things up. Sebastian would have fucked things up. He knew Hunter was extremely guarded with his feelings, and if he'd opened them up to Sebastian, intentionally or not, Sebastian would have hurt Hunter. Hunter would never admit to the hurt, but Sebastian knew that he would have been.

Now, however, things were different. It could have just been them, or maybe there were more people left in the world. Regardless of that, the only person in Sebastian's world then was Hunter. Sebastian knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that the same applied to him.

The sounds of the thunderstorm outside and Hunter's warm body and soft breathing lulled him into a light sleep. He was awoken an hour or two later to feel Hunter shaking, caught in the throes of another nightmare. Sebastian sleepily shifted up the bed, bringing Hunter's head to rest on his chest, wrapping his long arms around Hunter's shoulders and head, holding him tightly. Hunter shook, tiny whimpers emerging from the back of his throat. Were the situation not so... heart-wrenching for Sebastian, he might have teased Hunter about it at another point. As it was, feeling, seeing Hunter like this made his chest hurt, and his stomach clench.

Against his better judgement, he shook Hunter, trying to bring Hunter from the throes of whatever nightmare that was plaguing him. Hunter might have been strong and sure during waking hours, refusing to deal with things or acknowledge feelings and problems. But in his sleep, he couldn't shove those thoughts away.

Hunter started awake, his eyes flying open, a heavy gasp pulling through his chest.

Sebastian sighed, and curled his fingers in Hunter's hair. "Hey... sorry. You were having a nightmare."

Hunter said nothing, just buried his head in Sebastian's neck, rubbing his face into the stubbly skin there. He didn't say anything, just attempted to level his breathing through his panicked gasps. Finally, he fell back into sleep, not a word spoken.

This time, he slept peacefully, Sebastian holding him the entire time.

Another crash of thunder woke Sebastian, the lightning striking in time, indicating they were caught right in the storm. He could hear the wind blustering outside, howling past the building and whistling as it caught on the slightly open window; the curtains kicked up a fuss, being pushed around by the violent winds. The room was cool, but not unpleasantly so, and Sebastian was warm with the blanket around him and Hunter pillowing his head on his chest, arms and legs thrown over him. Hunter still slept on, which surprised Sebastian as he’d jolted awake.

For a while, he lay there, enjoying the contrast of the warmth against the cool, and hearing the storm. Like many people, he loved rainy weather. Sure, he didn’t like to be caught in said rain, but when inside and warm, and snuggled up with someone, it wasn’t so bad. It struck him as strange that he didn’t feel weird to be snuggling with Hunter, even if Hunter were asleep. Never in his life had he snuggled, even on those few occasions he’d experimented with girls. He had never held hands with anyone outside of his mother, not even in primary school, given that his mother had homeschooled him. Intimacy wasn’t something he did, and yet he lay here with Hunter, feeling more exposed, yet safer than he had in his entire life.

He knew he ought to be terrified, but he wasn’t. Hunter was callous, cruel, and emotionally distant. He didn’t talk about his problems (but then, nor did Sebastian), and you constantly had to second guess yourself around him, wonder what he really felt. Overall, he was… kind of a dick, really; but he  _was_  Sebastian’s best friend. Sebastian trusted Hunter with his life, and more to the point, he trusted him with his heart. If Hunter didn’t feel…  _something_  for him, he wouldn't have let things get as far as they had. Hunter didn’t do feelings, or affection, yet with Sebastian he’d been slowly showing little signs of it. It wasn’t much, and carefully distributed, but it was there. And if Hunter didn’t mean it, he definitely wouldn’t have been showing it.

Shit. Hunter actually liked him. Hunter  _liked_  him. Even days later, the thought was still strange in Sebastian’s mind. Not at all unwelcome, but strange.

Sebastian shifted whilst yawning, his bladder sick of him lying there, so he carefully eased himself out from under Hunter. In his sleep, Hunter’s hands grabbed for him, but when Sebastian replaced himself with a pillow, Hunter snuggled up to that. Sebastian snorted, wishing he had a working phone so that he could take a picture of that image for later blackmailing purposes.

After he finished in the bathroom, he returned to the room and walked over to the window. The sky outside was darkening, and not just due to the storm. Had he really slept for most of the day?

Whilst the storm did not look at all inviting, he and Hunter had to eat. They’d come straight to the hotel from the road and hadn’t stopped by anywhere to collect more supplies. With a heavy sigh, he started getting dressed, layering on his clothing so as to avoid getting too cold. They were staying on the main strip of the town, and he imagined there was some kind of general store along there.

When he left, Hunter was still sleeping. He didn’t look as awful as he had that morning though, and that comforted Sebastian.

The weather outside was atrocious, and the main street had some kind of small wind tunnel, the wind bursting through it so violently that it almost knocked Sebastian off his feet. The rain pelted down on him, stinging his face, heavy droplets crashing onto his jacket, drenching him quickly. Fuck, he was going to need a really hot bath after this, and ideally some hard, even hotter sex.

He could barely see a few feet in front of him, and his boots were soon filled with water from the unseen puddles he stomped through. His stomach rumbled however, reminding him of his mission: food.

He didn’t know how long he wandered; it felt like hours, but realistically, he knew that the town was too small for that. It just felt longer due to the heavy rain crashing down on him. Eventually, he managed to stumble on a store, conveniently named General Store in big red letters, miraculously visible through the rain.

Once he’d broken into the store, he wandered through the small place. It smelled of rotting food, thanks to broken freezers, and fruit, vegetables, breads, all left to become stinking piles of… god, he didn’t want to think about it. He put his drenched sleeve over his mouth and nose so that he had to smell the wet plastic of his rain jacket rather than the mouldy food. The store was dark, and his torch was dying. Right, that was his first course of action: batteries for his damn torch.

Hunter had been right to get a basic torch model; sure, it was less powerful, but it meant that the batteries were readily available. Sebastian tore open a packet, and fixed it up, pocketing a handful more. In the same small aisle were condoms and lube, and with a smirk, he grabbed a few of the small bottles of lube and tossed them into the empty backpack he’d taken with him. They weren’t his favourite brand, but they’d do.

Now, food. Torch in hand, other arm covering his face still, he wandered the aisles, wrinkling his face at the idea of eating more canned soup, but knowing they didn’t exactly have a choice. God, what he wouldn’t give for some fucking steak, or fries, or even a goddamn salad with haloumi, or a pumpkin and fetta salad, or… Shit. No. He couldn’t afford to think about delicious food, or this would be even worse.

Once he’d grabbed enough to last a few days, Sebastian moved back into the storm again, glaring through the rain as he attempted to find where they were staying again. He almost got lost, wandering off the main street a few times accidentally, and cursing when he did so, annoyed that he was being forced to spend even more time in the rain thanks to his own stupidity.

Eventually, he found the motel and dragged himself back to their room. When he stumbled inside, Hunter was sitting on the edge of the bed wearing nothing but his briefs, hair a mess and eyes still sleepy. He sent a small glare at Sebastian.

“Where the hell were you?” he asked, rubbing his eyes. He sounded almost like he was pouting, but Sebastian had to have been imagining it.

Sebastian sat on the floor of the entry way and dragged his sodden boots and outer layers off, wrinkling his nose at how they dripped a puddle onto the floor. He stood, peeling his final layers off, and brought his backpack over to the table in the room.

“Had to get us food.”

Hunter nodded, getting up off the bed to see what Sebastian had grabbed. “And lube apparently.”

Sebastian smirked, running his icy hands over his cold arms vigorously as if trying to push the goosebumps back into his skin. “We were running low,” Sebastian pointed out.

Hunter rolled his eyes and walked over to him, eyeing him carefully. “You’re soaked.”

“Yup. Going to have a shower.” They’d established the water out this way had been clean, apparently running on an independent pump. The first few minutes of water had smelled like copper but after that had been thankfully clean and above all, warm. “Care to join me?”

Hunter raised his eyebrows at him, then smirked himself. “Sure.” He walked back to the table where he’d left the lube and grabbed the bottle of silicone lubricant, and with a hand on Sebastian’s ass, shoved him into the tiny motel bathroom. With great effort, Sebastian yanked his saturated underwear down, leaving them in a pile on the floor, Hunter starting the shower and grabbing some towels.

“How’d you sleep?” Sebastian asked, wrapping his arms around himself.

Hunter nodded. “Well, actually.”

“Still tired?”

Hunter nodded again, shrugging. “Not surprising really.”

Sebastian had to agree. He didn’t exactly research calories, but when he’d done his running training for his marathons, he’d become aware of how important getting enough food was. He knew Hunter knew about it because of his own dedication to weight lifting. They hadn’t been eating enough, not to sustain the kind of walking they were doing, and whilst Sebastian wasn’t as exhausted as Hunter, he had significantly less muscle and weighed a great deal less. Overall, Sebastian needed less food, and the time had probably come that his body was exhausted. Hunter Clarington may have been strong, and able to push his limits, but even he had to be forced to stop sometime. Apparently his body had decided enough was enough.

The water from the shower had heated up sufficiently, filling the room with steam. Sebastian stepped in first, gasping as the heated water ran over his freezing skin. Hunter chuckled breathily at him, and stepped into the tub after him, wrapping his arms around Sebastian’s waist and burying his head in his neck.

Slowly, heat returned to Sebastian’s body, in more ways than one. He felt Hunter hardening behind him, erection gliding smoothly against his ass, the water making the movements slick. Hunter’s mouth sucked marks into his shoulders, hands running up and down his chest, stomach, to his cock. Sebastian let his head fall back against Hunter’s shoulder, mumbling sounds of enjoyment. After some time, he felt a slick, warm finger slide between his asscheeks before gently pushing in. He could tell Hunter was still tired by the fact that he wasn’t being rough, his touches slow and careful.

The water coursed down them, and slowly, Hunter manoeuvred Sebastian to face the shower wall, hands resting against the cooler porcelain. Finally, with a slowness that drove Sebastian a little crazy, he pressed inside, heat now completely consuming Sebastian.

Despite his earlier slowness, as soon as Sebastian exhaled shakily, Hunter started fucking him roughly, hips snapping back and forth, as if to make up for his prior softness. He bit into Sebastian’s shoulder as he fucked him. Sebastian’s nails scrabbled at the white tiles, breathing hard, low sounds forced from his throat with each thrust. Hunter’s arm wrapped tightly around his chest, his hand going to rest at the base of his throat, the other sliding down to wrap around his cock. Sebastian had never done anything like breathplay, but suddenly understood the appeal. Hunter applied the barest pressure, still allowing him to breathe quite easily, but just making it a little bit more difficult. His head spun slightly, and he realised the amount of trust he was putting into Hunter just then.

His orgasm rushed over him, vision flashing black and white. His knees shook, and water got into his mouth as it fell open, gasping desperately. Hunter fucked him through it, hand steady and strong around him, holding him up for the last minutes, finally grunting his own release into Sebastian’s bitten shoulder.

For a long while, they stood, not moving, just regaining their breath and sanity under the water. Finally, Hunter pulled out, earning a small whimper from Sebastian. He grabbed some soap and cleaned them both off, finally turning off the water. Sebastian grinned dazedly at him as he wrapped a towel around himself, and pressed a kiss to the side of Hunter’s mouth.

After eating, Sebastian lay himself naked across Hunter, pulling the blanket over them both, and then kissing down his stomach and exploring him fully with his mouth. An orgasm for each of them later, they fell into deep sleep.

The rain continued the next day. Sebastian rolled off of his stomach and shifted over in the bed, spooning up behind Hunter. Normally Hunter spooned him, but at that moment his back was to Sebastian. His breathing was quiet, making Sebastian wonder if he was actually awake. He blearily rubbed his face into the hard muscles of Hunter’s back.

“Morning,” Hunter said, voice deep with sleep.

“Feeling any better?” Sebastian asked, a part of him hoping that he wasn’t. He still didn’t wish to walk in the rain, but if Hunter were feeling better, they’d likely be packing their bags soon and heading out. His damp clothing was hanging in the bathroom and was quite unlikely dry.

Hunter nodded. “Much.”

Sebastian groaned. “Do we have to walk today?” he whined, staring at the rain that continued to pelt down outside the motel.

“No,” Hunter finally said. “Knowing you, you’ll catch a cold and then I’ll have to shoot you.”

“Shoot me?” Sebastian squawked, a little concerned to hear the lack of tease in Hunter’s voice.

“Well, between you getting injured, hypothermia, and generally being really bad at camping, you’ve kind of slowed me down. This is about survival, Bas. You getting a cold would result in slowing us down further. Hence, it’d be faster and easier to shoot you.”

“Ouch.” Sebastian rolled his eyes. Trust Hunter.

Hunter rolled around to face Sebastian, a lascivious smile on his face. “Guess we’ll just have to stay here until the rain stops.”

Sebastian caught the tease in his tone, and knew exactly what he was implying. He played along. “Oh. Whatever will we do with all of this spare time?”

Hunter pressed forward and kissed him soundly, naked thigh pressing Sebastian’s morning wood. To Sebastian’s surprise, however, Hunter didn’t stop at Sebastian’s mouth, instead dragging his tongue down Sebastian’s chest, avoiding his scars except to press light kisses to them. Soon, he reached Sebastian’s hips, and all Sebastian could do was stare. His hands hovered over Hunter’s head, inches from actually touching him. God, Sebastian wanted it, wanted Hunter’s mouth around him, to feel the wet, tight heat around his cock.

To his disappointment, Hunter stopped, eyes dragging over Sebastian’s cock. His large hand came to the base, grasping him tightly. Hunter still stared, as if trying to force the thing into submission.

Impatiently, Sebastian twitched his hips up. “C’mon…” he encouraged. Hunter’s glare shot up to Sebastian’s face. “I’ll guide you through?” Sebastian offered. It was a potentially very stupid move. Hunter hated not knowing things, not being perfect at things. Sebastian offering that might have been a very, very bad idea.

Hunter, however, seemed to be mulling the idea around in his mind. “Fine,” he said eventually. Sebastian’s head fell back against the pillows, a grin spreading across his face. Fuck. Yes. He looked back down to where Hunter was waiting expectantly, eyebrows raised, expression almost bored.

“God…” Sebastian breathed, gasping suddenly when Hunter apparently got tired of waiting and sank his mouth halfway down Sebastian’s cock. Sebastian’s hips bucked unintentionally, and he groaned, fingers grasping the white bedsheets beneath him.

Hunter drew away with a smirk. “Well? Get on with it.”

“You’re more than welcome to just do that,” Sebastian breathed, running a shaky hand through his hair. “But uh,” he said, his hand going to his now slightly wet cock, rubbed a particular spot, “this here? Most sensitive spot. You might be different because you’re cut. But try to drag your tongue over it.” He chuckled, and added, “Once, I literally lay in bed for over an hour, just one finger rubbing that one spot. Weirdest orgasm of my life, but,” he shook his head, “fucking intense!” His words were dragged out as Hunter sank his mouth around Sebastian’s cock again, all hot and wet and, oh god yes.

As instructed, he dragged the tip of his tongue over the spot Sebastian had instructed, running it back and forth and making Sebastian twitch slightly. “And um… the parts you can’t cover…” Sebastian sighed, watching him closely, almost as turned on by the sight as he was by Hunter’s mouth, “use your hands.”

Hunter’s hand went to cover the portion of his cock that his mouth wasn’t, moving up when Hunter drew his mouth up, and pushing down with Hunter’s mouth, a smooth and easy rhythm established. Sebastian moaned softly, toes curling slightly. “If, um…” He broke off, eyes fluttering shut temporarily, enjoying the sensations. “If you want to deep throat, relax your jaw; don’t just open it, relax it, soft palette up, and breathe easily, oh fuck, and kind of just… let it sink in,  _fuck_ …” He groaned, hands clenching in Hunter’s hair.

Suddenly, Hunter pulled away, making a choking sound that accompanied someone when they tried to deep throat too quickly when not used to it. A trail of saliva hung connect his cock to Hunter’s pink lips, and Sebastian nearly came purely at the sight. Hunter’s cheeks were pink, but beyond that, he didn’t allow his embarrassment to show. Instead, he just sank back down, apparently determined to get things perfect.

“I know… huh, I know you’re a perfectionist; you’re more than welcome to practice on me,” Sebastian teased, groaning. He had to keep looking at Hunter to be sure that the wonderful feeling around his cock was Hunter’s mouth. God, he’d been dreaming of this moment for years, and it was even better than all of his filthiest fantasies. Hunter wasn’t sloppy, and happily exploring Sebastian’s cock with his tongue, a look of concentration in his eyes as he worked through which spots earned the best reactions from Sebastian.

It was all becoming too much. Between Hunter’s tongue on his favourite spot with every pull, his hand covering the spots he didn’t reach, and oh god, fingers lightly stroking his balls, Sebastian was close far too soon. Hunter had a steady rhythm, a little predictable, but Sebastian didn’t mind. Fuck, he  _so_  didn’t mind.

“Close!” he managed to choke, fingers tightening in Hunter’s hair. To his genuine surprise and utter delight, Hunter didn’t pull away, and with a groan through gritted teeth, Sebastian came, back arching, toes and fingers curling, cursing in both French and English as he did, a habit he thought he’d broken.

Hunter stayed around Sebastian’s cock for a moment, waiting to catch those final few dribbles of come before withdrawing. His expression did not look pleased, and he shoved off the bed and walked into the bathroom. Sebastian heard him spitting into the sink and laughed breathlessly, running a hand over his face.

Oh god, that had been incredible. Sure, he’d had technically better blowjobs, but that one was going down in history as his favourite. He’d been Hunter’s first blowjob, and in true Hunter form, it hadn’t even been bad. In fact, it’d been rather good. God knew how amazing he’d be by the time Sebastian was done training him.

Hunter returned to the room, a smirk on his lips, face damp from where he’d apparently splashed water on it.

“Jizz tastes fucking awful.”

Sebastian rolled his eyes. “Thanks,” he said dryly. “But yes, you’re right. Better to just swallow it down before you can taste it.”

Hunter gave him an unimpressed look as he slipped across the bed, lying beside Sebastian and propped himself up on his elbow. His expression was curious, as if asking for some confirmation on how he did.

Sebastian pushed himself up onto his elbows as well, and gave Hunter a deep kiss. “That was so hot…” he breathed against Hunter’s mouth. He felt Hunter smile into the kiss, obviously pleased with himself. He then pressed his erection against Sebastian’s bare stomach, and Sebastian got the hint, kissing down his body.

Before they really knew it, three days of heavy rain were filled with exploring each other’s bodies with teeth, tongues, and fingers. They alternated between sleeping, eating and fucking in various ways, leaving Sebastian sore, and in what seemed to be a near constant post-coital haze. He hadn’t orgasmed so many times in such a short space of time since he’d discovered masturbation, of that he was sure.

With that said, he  _so_  didn’t mind. Sure, his dick and balls actually hurt, but he was certain he and Hunter were glowing. Plus, Sebastian knew most of Hunter’s weak spots by then. He knew Hunter loved his hair getting pulled, and that Hunter had a thing for biting. Hunter said most of the girls he’d fucked didn’t liked getting bitten so hard, but Sebastian revelled in it. Hunter loved to take control, and belts were utilised on several occasions for various reasons; he learned that if he was on his knees in front of Hunter and looked up through his eyelashes, Hunter’s voice would break. Hunter was also determined to become a master at blowjobs, and fingering, it seemed, and spent a good amount of time practicing on a willing Sebastian.

On the fourth morning there, they awoke to see blue skies. Sebastian was almost sorry to see them.


	10. Chapter 10

_Days 45 to 50._

Without regular ration packs, food ran low quickly. Ammunition also ran low when in some of the larger towns, they encountered more swarms of Infected and had to shoot their way out. There was only so much ammo and food that they could carry without making their bags exceptionally heavy.

They’d spent two nights in the wilderness, when they came across another small town. They were in desperate need of supplies and Hunter made the executive decision to raid the small surplus store in the town.

The store didn’t seem anything special, really, just another standard supply and gun store. The glass windows were covered by thick metal bars, preventing break-ins. Please, as if Sebastian would need to break in that way.

“Can you pick it?” Hunter asked when they approached it, the sun beating down on them heavily.

Sebastian stared at the lock, frowning. He might not be able to, actually. It was more complicated than he was used to. Instead of letting Hunter know this, however, he just shrugged, and said, “I’ll give it a shot.”

He knelt in front of it, looking through his backpack for the picks he’d stolen at an earlier store. He inspected the lock carefully, running his tongue over one of his canines, his habit when he was concentrating. He carefully selected some picks and Hunter grew sick of standing and watching him and sat beside him, taking slow sips of water from his flask. A line of sweat dripped down Sebastian’s temple; god, he hated the heat almost as much as he hated the cold.

“I thought you were meant to be good at that,” Hunter deadpanned, sounding bored.

Another swipe of the tongue over his canine, and a frown. “I’m out of practice. Plus, I didn’t exactly go around picking locks like these.”

Hunter smirked. “That’s a story you definitely owe me.”

Sebastian chuckled and grabbed another pick. “It’s not that exciting.”

“Just happen to know how to pick locks then? And hotwire cars? An inborn knowledge?” Hunter rolled his eyes.

“When I was in Paris, I…” He frowned, cursing when he failed at the lock again. “Right. When I was in Paris, well, you know how smart I am. I didn’t exactly need to study, and obviously didn’t need to work. I was bored. Bored rich boys equal problems. Hung out with the wrong crowd,” he snorted, shaking his head. “Actually, they were definitely the right crowd. Basically, we used to break into houses, break into cars, go joyriding, and then… return the cars with an empty tank.”

Hunter rolled his eyes, shaking his head. “Seriously?”

Sebastian shrugged. “We didn’t want to destroy things. We were just  _bored_. And joyriding in expensive cars that our parents wouldn’t buy us was fucktons of fun.”

“I don’t think fucktons is an actual unit of measure,” Hunter pointed out.

Sebastian grinned and shrugged again. “Regardless, I learned how to pick locks, and hotwire cars. It kind of was a challenge. Fancier houses and cars had harder things to get into, and were harder to hotwire, so it soon became a bit of a competition.”

Hunter raised his eyebrows at him. Sebastian smirked and winked, and pulled another pick off of his knee. “So what you’re saying is you were basically some juvenile delinquent?”

Sebastian crowed as the lock finally slid free, the handle moving easily when he tried it. “I wouldn’t call it juvenile delinquent,” Sebastian said, “given that I never got caught.”

Hunter shook his head. “I’m both impressed and disappointed. Explains why you were such a shithead in Senior year, if that’s how you lived in Paris.”

“I’m still a shithead,” Sebastian grinned, pushing into the store, Hunter following after him with a nod of the head.

The store was relatively small, clearly for the farmers in the area rather than gun enthusiasts, Sebastian realised. He wandered through the shelves, noting the small clothing section in mostly black and khaki. Great. Regardless, Sebastian gratefully tore his old shirt off, leaving it on the concrete floor. He and Hunter had been washing their clothing often enough, but still, he was grateful for a fresh shirt, one that hadn’t lost all of its shape and didn’t smell of dirt and sweat. The pants didn’t fit as well as the others, but again, they hadn’t been worn in a rotation every day for the past two months. He could deal with slightly loose pants and his ass looking less fantastic if it meant  _clean_  and _untorn_. Besides, he knew by then that Hunter definitely appreciated his ass minus pants.

After tossing his old clothes out and replacing them with a few new sets, he started to wander through, seeking more food. There were two large shelves filled with ration packs, and Sebastian found himself wondering why these hadn’t been looted earlier. Most of the towns they’d been through hadn’t been looted, but the surplus stores often looked touched, indicating other survivors were out there.

Rather than worrying, he began grabbing silver ration packs and tossing them into his bag on top of his new pants. He sat on the floor, inspecting the different flavours, excited to see that there was chocolate pudding on the bottom shelf, and woah, tubes of condensed milk. He grabbed four of those, and a handful of several packets of pudding, annoyed that he’d not discovered anything like this earlier. Whilst Hunter was correct in saying Sebastian was a food snob, living on salty soups had altered his tastebuds.

And holy shit, there were chocolate protein bars! He knew they wouldn’t taste as good as some of the ones he used to eat, but when he dragged it from its little foil packet and shoved it into his mouth, he was delighted that it actually tasted like chocolate. It probably meant it was shitty in terms of protein, but hey, chocolate. He tipped the entire box into his bag, grinning and-

The sound of a gunshot resounded through the store, a yell from Hunter following shortly after. Terror gripped him. Had Hunter accidentally set off a gun on himself? No, Hunter wasn’t stupid, and that? That was fucking stupid.

Shaking, still on his knees, Sebastian poked his head up a little over the shelves. He heard heavy boots, and then a female shouting, “Fucking lousy shot! You were meant to kill him!”

“Shut the fuck up!” He snarled at her, struggling to reload his rifle. Sebastian moved again on his hands and knees, and crawled to the edge of the shelf. Hunter was struggling to get up, hand fumbling for his dropped gun quickly. Sebastian saw a lot of blood on… oh god, his neck, but aside from that, he actually seemed fine. He lay on the ground, but was still definitely alive.

Breathing heavily, Sebastian grabbed his gun and quickly loaded it, stepping out from behind the shelf, gun raised at the two intruders. They were clearly two other survivors, just as desperate for supplies as he and Hunter. He noted that they were gaunt and thin, filthy, and the man’s hands on the rifle were shaking so badly that Sebastian could see it from where he stood. He didn’t look as if he had a clue on how to properly shoot a gun.

Honestly, they both looked terrified. The girl was desperately searching for a gun or ammo, bent at the back counter and frantically trying to open the locked cupboard. He could hear her panicked breathing, and the man kept fumbling with the gun, dropping it.

Hunter had managed to grip his gun, and raised it quickly, shooting at the man. It completely missed, Hunter’s arm shaking violently. Shit.

The intruders still hadn’t seen Sebastian, which made little sense to him given he wasn’t exactly hidden at this point, but they both looked at Hunter. The man cocked his gun, finally having it ready again.

“Hurry up and fucking kill him,” the girl shrieked, looking both terrified and furious that Hunter had shot at them. “He’ll get all of the supplies!”

The man shot again, but his aim and stance were poor and his arms shook. The rifle jerked and missed Hunter by feet, one of the shelves getting hit by the bullet, bursting through metals, the sound tearing and screeching in the air. The man jolted violently, shaken by the backlash, and the girl shouted, hands going to her ears too late. The room smelled of gunfire, and a blackened hole appeared on the concrete.

Without thinking, Sebastian raised his own gun, and shot the man, and then the woman, trigger finger moving in quick succession. The man fell, clutching his chest, the girl screaming as she held her now bloody collarbone.

Furiously, Sebastian stalked over to them, handgun still trained on them. When he reached Hunter, he reached a hand down to help Hunter to his feet. Hunter’s neck was dripping blood down his arms, over his fingertips and onto the floor, but aside from that he seemed uninjured. Hunter took Sebastian’s hand in his shaking hands and got to his feet, one hand going to the wound on his neck in a desperate attempt to staunch the bleeding.

The man and woman were whimpering on the floor behind the back counter. From his new position, Sebastian could see they’d entered through a back door, explaining why he hadn’t seen them come in.

He walked past Hunter, expression cold, adrenaline pumping through him. The man had dropped his rifle, but Sebastian still kept his gun trained at his head. The girl seemed to be lacking a weapon, but that didn’t mean anything; she could have been hiding it. Slowly, eyes still trained on the pair, he bent to the floor and picked up Hunter’s gun, slipping it easily into his other hand, aiming it at the girl. He wasn’t the best at shooting one handed, but he reckoned that if necessary he could prevent himself getting his head blown up if they had any stupid ideas.

“What do you want?” he snarled, venom in his voice.

“We just wanted supplies!” the girl cried, suddenly weak and whimpering. Frankly, he couldn’t blame her; he imagined that bullet wound wouldn’t be pleasant.

“And you had to kill someone to get them?”

“He might have stopped us! This is the end of the world; those supplies won’t last forever!” the man shouted, groaning in pain when the action moved his wound.

Sebastian rolled his eyes. “Try asking next time. Be thankful I’m not fucking killing you right this instant,” he snapped, surprising himself when instead of blowing both of their heads off, he grabbed his and Hunter’s packs, slinging the heavy bags over his shoulder, and, eyes still on the pair, guns still aimed at them, he backed out of the store, Hunter following after him. He saw Hunter grab a medical kit on the way out, tucking it under his shaking arms. The whimpers of pain followed them outside, and when Sebastian closed the door, they disappeared entirely.

“Why did you do that?” Hunter asked, face pinched and tight with pain. Sebastian watched the blood run in rivulets down his arm, several droplets hitting the black bitumen as they fell from his elbow.

“Do what?” Sebastian snapped, wincing when he poked his head around to have a better look at the wound. Blood ran over Hunter’s fingers, soaking his black shirt.

“Not kill them,” Hunter said.

“Why? I’m not a killer, Hunter.” Sebastian’s voice was cold, and he licked his dry lips. He’d long since made peace with killing his family. Really, they’d already been dead, just in a different way. Killing other non-Infected humans though? Sebastian couldn’t do that. “Besides, they’ll probably die from those wounds. Dunno how the fuck they survived this long; his shooting technique was shit.” He shook his head, jaw clenched. “Don’t know why they thought shooting and taking would be a better idea than just waiting until we left the store. Idiots.”

Hunter frowned, his expression indicating that he didn’t entirely agree with Sebastian’s decision, but he didn’t say anything. Regardless, Sebastian stood by his actions. He’d had to incapacitate them so they couldn’t keep shooting, and he wasn’t going to kill them. Given the circumstances, he figured he’d made the best decision he could have.

Sebastian stared at Hunter’s neck, panic beginning to rise in him again; Hunter had been shot in the neck and was  _still fucking standing_. “C’mon. Let’s get that cleaned up,” he muttered, not bothering to ask if he was okay. He knew that Hunter wasn’t okay, but it could be worse. A lot worse. Shit, Hunter could have  _died_  and Sebastian had been stuffing his face with shitty chocolate protein bars.

Guilt swept through him, pinching his heart and stomach tightly. He should have been there. A voice told him that he hadn’t expected them, that they couldn’t have known they’d come in through some back door.

By the time they walked into a little motel, Hunter’s face was dead white, blue veins standing out violently against his skin. His lips were pursed so tightly they were barely a line, and his eyes were creased with pain.

Sebastian attempted to keep calm, needing a level head to pick the hotel locks. He was thankful for that when he picked it with insane ease and speed. When they walked into the room, Hunter walked straight to the bathroom and closed the toilet, sitting on the lid and dropping the medical kit onto the bathroom bench. Sebastian dropped their packs, rubbing his shoulders as soon as the weight was gone. Normally he struggled with one pack, but he’d just lifted two heavy ones; must have been the adrenaline.

In the bathroom, Sebastian opened the window, needing light. Hunter was easing his shirt off, hissing softly with pain as he did. Sebastian opened the medical kit, staring at it for a few moments. Hunter was trying to get a good look at the injury in the mirror, still sitting on the closed toilet, a bloody mess on the outside of his neck, about an inch above the spot where neck met shoulder. It turned Sebastian’s stomach to look at, really. Holy shit; Hunter was  _so_  lucky he hadn’t had his head blown up.

“Okay, what do I need to do?” Sebastian asked softly, frowning at the medical kit.

“Don’t worry about it,” Hunter said, still trying to crane his head to properly see the wound on his neck. The wounds bleeding had eased significant, more of a slow dribble than the rush of before. Hunter looked positively ill now, and Sebastian wondered if people could turn green.

“Don’t be silly,” Sebastian rolled his eyes. “I’m here, and can see it better. Just… talk me through it.

Hunter nodded, eyes dropping slightly. Sebastian saw his head fall forward a bit, but he jerked up straight again, widening his eyes. “Okay. Clean it up a bit so you can see it properly. Grab those there, and put that stuff on it.” He pointed at some wipes and a bottle of antiseptic. Obeying, Sebastian did that, and knelt beside Hunter, putting his head on almost the same level as his neck. Hunter’s bloody hands gripped his own knees, body radiating tension.

Slowly, Sebastian started to wipe the blood off, stomach rolling as he did so. He swallowed the vomit that threatened to rise, and breathed through his mouth in an effort to avoid the coppery smell of the blood.

“You could have died…” Sebastian said softly as he did. “If he’d been a better shot… could have blown your head off. Or gone through your neck.”

“But he didn’t,” Hunter said flatly. “I’m lucky it was a graze; they’re rare, but they happen. Another inch I think and it would have caught my carotid artery.”

Sebastian nodded. He didn’t know much about those things, but he trusted Hunter. He took a few minutes to finish cleaning around the wound, not worrying about the drips that were drying on Hunter’s shoulder and chest. He could get them later; for now, he had a bullet graze to clean up.

He inched his face closer, inspecting the wound, canine digging into the tip of his tongue. The wound didn’t look too bad; maybe neck wounds just bled an awful lot. As he started cleaning closer and eventually into the wound, he felt Hunter’s breathing shorten, heard him hiss in pain. Sebastian’s fingers slipped in the sticky blood as he moved the material through the wound, carefully disinfecting it. He smelled burned flesh and his stomach rolled again. Blood ran down his fingers, but it wasn’t a heavy flow, stopping midway down his palm before it ran out of steam. The wound was maybe three inches across, he discovered as he cleaned, the edges jagged and torn. It was half an inch in thickness, and not too deep. The wound gaped a little, but wasn’t bad in his unprofessional opinion.

Hunter brought his hand up and felt at the wound, jaw clenching as he did so. “Okay, it won’t need stitches at least. That just needs pressure, I’d say.” Hunter pointed at the medical kit. “Okay, grab those bandages.” Sebastian grabbed the specified ones. “That one goes on first. Apply pressure. And then the next one. Make sure the area is clean and dry, so it sticks.” Wordlessly, Sebastian obeyed the directions, placing the large white rectangle on Hunter’s neck, sliding his bloody fingers on the edges of the bandage, getting it to stick.

Finally, he sat back on his haunches, licking his lips. “That okay?”

Hunter inspected it in the mirror and nodded. “Thanks.”

Sebastian stood up slowly, walked back to their bags, and grabbed some water for Hunter. Whilst he was at his bag, he heard Hunter retch a little, the splatter of vomit hit the tiled floor. Sebastian winced as he returned and watched Hunter vomit again, dry retch twice, before sitting up carefully, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.

“You gonna go into shock?” he asked, as he passed the bottle to Hunter. Hunter took it, hands red with the dried blood. He took careful sips and rinsed his mouth, before swallowing the water down.

Hunter shook his head. “I’ll be fine.”

Cautiously, Sebastian nodded, and pulled the half eaten protein bar from his pocket. “Here. Sugar. Something in your stomach.”

Hunter didn’t argue, just took it, and took a little nibble, looking like he wanted to be sick again. However, he swallowed down on it, and stood. He crinkled his nose at the sick between his feet, and said “We should get another room.”

Sebastian nodded, grabbing the bags again, feeling the weight a lot more now, and took them to the next room. Hunter moved slowly, blinking blearily at him a few times when Sebastian spoke to him. In the new room, Hunter grabbed a washcloth and slowly scrubbed away the dried blood on his arms, shoulder, chest and back. Sebastian washed his own hands, feeling sick as he washed the blood run down into the white porcelain sink, down the drain.

Eventually, Sebastian settled for laying Hunter on the bed, wrapping him into a blanket, and giving him food and a tube of condensed milk. Hunter didn’t seem all that interested in the protein bar.

“Seriously? Condensed milk?” Hunter asked, leaning on the pillows.

Sebastian shrugged, and grabbed it from him, squeezing some of the gooey liquid into his mouth, sugar exploding over his tastebuds. “It’ll help. Maybe.”

“Help give me diabetes…” Hunter muttered, but took it from Sebastian and took a mouthful. Sebastian laughed as he saw Hunter pull a face from the overload of sugar, but… then he took another. “Shut up, it’s nice…” Hunter scowled.

Sebastian grinned and shifted up the bed, resting a hand on Hunter’s cheek, which he used to pull Hunter into a literally sweet kiss. Hunter’s lips were sticky on his when he pulled away languidly.

“I’m glad you didn’t die today…” Sebastian breathed, nose brushing Hunter’s.

Hunter nodded, sighing as he rested his forehead on Sebastian’s. “I’m… so pissed off I didn’t see them,” he said, no venom in his voice, only tiredness coming through. “If they’d been better shots, they could have killed us like that.” He folded his arms across his chest, pulling back from Sebastian.

“If you start blaming yourself, I’m withholding sex privileges,” Sebastian said, rolling his eyes. He understood Hunter’s guilt; Sebastian was feeling it in his own way. But really, they couldn’t have done anything else. At least he hadn’t killed anyone. “Neither of us saw them; neither of us heard them come in. And you’re right; they could have killed us, but they didn’t. Don’t question it, just… fucking accept it, okay. And…” he frowned, bringing his hand back to Hunter’s face to rest there, “just be really fucking happy you’re alive. I know I am.” His voice was soft, and let on more than he was ever willing to say aloud.

He knew Hunter heard it, saw the change in his eyes. Hunter didn’t say anything, just pulled Sebastian back in for another kiss. “Thank you,” Hunter said against his mouth. It could have been a thank you for his comfort, or for the feelings Sebastian was making more evident, or cleaning his wound. The look in Hunter’s eyes said it was all three, and more.

Sebastian grabbed a small bottle of rum he’d grabbed at the surplus store from his bag that afternoon. The day had cooled significantly, but the rum was warm from being in his bag. Hunter was sleeping, having taken some strong painkillers. Man, sometimes it felt like all Sebastian did was watch Hunter sleep.

He’d half-filled a glass from the hotel room with the rum, sipping it as he paced the room casually, opening the windows as he went. The room was stuffy and smelled of stale air. The air outside was still, but at least made the room less muggy. He did a mental calculation, trying to work out when it was in the year. May? June? He honestly had no fucking idea, didn’t know how long they’d been walking. He figured it was probably May; the weather was warm, but nowhere near hot enough to be considered summer.

He pulled Hunter’s map from his bag, inspecting it as he sipped the rum, the liquid burning his sinuses, tongue, throat as he took a mouthful. He knew they were somewhere in Kansas, some tiny town that didn’t have a name on the map. According to Hunter’s plotting, they were still well over a week from Denver, and then after that… Who knew? The basic plan was to get to California, but it was all dependent on Hunter’s family. If they were alive, they could slow them down.

Sebastian aimed not to think of his mother, but whenever he was alone with time to think, his thoughts always went back to her. She’d been alive when she’d fled Columbus, but who knew what happened after that? How would she have gotten to California, as she’d instructed him? Was she travelling alone? He knew she was casually seeing someone from her work earlier, but was she with him, or heaven forbid, facing the world alone? His hands clenched around the glass, and he had to set it down; he didn’t know how strong he was but he didn’t want to risk crushing it.

He pulled his wallet out of his back pocket, easing the heavily creased photos out of the leather. His mother smiled at him from the photo. He looked at them most nights, a kind of masochistic gesture, reminding him of the family he’d killed himself, of the mother he risked losing. He sighed heavily, twisting his lips wryly. God, he hoped she was safe. He hoped she’d had some… helicopter or something and made it to California easily, didn’t have to fight for her life regularly. Knowing her, she’d have adopted every stray child and animal she’d met along the way.

“Looking at them again?” Hunter asked from behind him, a hand coming to rest on Sebastian’s shoulder as he leaned over to see what he was staring at.

Sebastian rolled his eyes and shoved the photos back into his wallet. Hunter had seen them before, and had definitely noticed Sebastian looking at them. Regardless, he didn’t like Hunter watching him like that. It felt like he was revealing too much somehow.

“How’s your neck?” he asked, spinning in his seat to face Hunter. Hunter looked better than earlier, some of the colour back in his face.

“It’ll be fine,” Hunter said, absently touching the edge of the bandage. “Good job not throwing up. Your stomach isn’t as weak as it used to be.”

Sebastian said nothing and picked up his rum. He took a sip and then held the glass to Hunter, offering it silently. Hunter took the glass, sniffing it. He shrugged and took a sip of his own.

“Why the rum?” he asked, sitting on the edge of the small wooden table in the room.

Sebastian shrugged. “Why not? Numb a bit of the pain, bit of fun. Whichever you’d prefer, really.”

Hunter picked the bottle up off the table, studying the label. “This is shit, you know that right?”

Sebastian had guessed, but no, he hadn’t known for sure. He wasn’t much of a rum drinker, preferring to stick to wines, cognac, and occasionally if he felt like getting hammered, vodka. Hunter was definitely more of a rum or beer guy. Despite his distaste, he refilled Sebastian’s glass, taking another mouthful himself and then passed it back to Sebastian.

After another mouthful, head feeling a little lighter than before, Sebastian stood, pressing wet lips to Hunter. Hunter took a drink when they broke apart, and manhandled Sebastian around to sit on the table, long legs wrapping around Hunter’s hips. Hunter pulled on his thighs, getting them to circle him tightly, mouth rough and hard against his. He still wasn’t wearing a shirt, and he quickly yanked Sebastian’s off, running his hands from Sebastian’s hips, up his stomach, chest, and shoulders as he dragged the shirt up and over his shirt.

Hunter finished the glass of rum in two swallows, gasping a little at the burning, before kissing Sebastian headily again, trailing nips and sucks down his throat and shoulder as he went. Sebastian tilted his head back, granting him further access. Hunter then wasted no time unbuckling Sebastian’s belt, sure hands tugging the metal zipper down the teeth slowly. His hand pressed inside his pants, squeezing his half-hard erection through his underwear. Sebastian exhaled heavily, pressing his hips into Hunter’s hand.

As Hunter worked, Sebastian grabbed the rum, taking a swallow straight from the bottle, enjoying the rush of alcohol to his head, grinning lazily as Hunter coaxed him into full hardness. Sebastian’s own hands went to return the favour, undoing the button on his pants, his belt having been removed before he napped. Hunter was hard already, grinding his hips against Sebastian.

“Gonna fuck me here?’ Sebastian breathed against Hunter’s mouth.

Hunter shook his head, biting Sebastian’s lower lip as he slid his hands under Sebastian’s ass, lifting him with ease and sliding him off the table. Sebastian wrapped his legs tighter around Hunter’s hips, one arm circling around his neck, the other resting on his shoulder, rum still in hand. He was hesitant to touch him so close to his wound. It was a few steps to the bed, and Hunter lowered Sebastian with ease, arms not shaking, not even dropping him onto the mattress. Hunter quickly stumbled over to their bags and tugged a bottle of lubricant from the sides, and set it on the bedside.

Lingering heat from Hunter having napped on the bed remained, pleasantly warm against Sebastian’s back as he shifted up the length of the mattress, chest warming as Hunter lay across him, wrapping his legs around him.

Through their heated kisses, they got through half the bottle, getting drunker and drunker as the afternoon wore on.

Sebastian wasn’t feeling particularly submissive at that time, and rolled Hunter over onto his back, nipping down his chest before going back to kiss him. His head spun delightfully, feelings blurred and intensified at the same time. Hunter pushed him up onto his knees, following him shortly, both of them on their knees, naked and kissing in the middle of the bed.

What truly surprised him was when Hunter continued, grabbed his hand and pressed it to his cock, and then… down, hand slipping between Hunter’s ass cheeks.

With wide eyes, Sebastian pulled back and looked at him, eyebrows rising. Was Hunter asking what he thought? Hunter’s face was firm, eyes hard, and then, not breaking eye contact, he reached over to the bedside, grabbed the bottle of lubricant and pressed it into Sebastian’s hands.

Sebastian wondered absently if it were possible to dying from being so painfully turned on. Hunter… wanted… Hunter wanted Sebastian to fuck him. Oh god, his  _dick_  was going to explode from all of the blood rushing there. Finally breaking eye contact, Hunter turned around, hands going to the headboard, bending slightly.

There was  _nothing_  submissive about his behaviour though. His head and shoulders were still held proudly, and when he turned around and looked at Sebastian, he smirked. Mouth dry, and not just from the alcohol pulsing through his system, Sebastian shifted the few feet between them, squirting some lubricant over his fingers, rubbing them together to spread it, warm them.

His hand grasped the firm muscles of Hunter’s ass, lubed finger sliding between his asscheeks. He didn’t bother with slowness, knew that Hunter wasn’t in the mood for that. He teased him slightly with a warm finger, and when he felt Hunter bear down slightly, he pressed his finger in very slowly, all hot tightness steadily taking him inside.

Hunter was breathing heavily, and gave a deep groan from the depths of his throat. Sebastian was completely determined to make Hunter enjoy this; if he ever wanted to top Hunter again, Hunter had to fucking love this. He was slow with one finger, stretching him slowly, pulling slightly to get him ready for at least another few fingers, pad of his fingertip exploring, hoping Hunter’s prostate wasn’t too difficult to find. Sebastian himself didn’t have a sensitive prostate; he fucking loved getting fucked, sure, but for the most part, he topped when it came to sex. He preferred it. Of course, he enjoyed getting fucked though, enjoying all of the sensitive nerve endings down there getting stimulated, prostate stimulation or not. Still, if Hunter was sensitive… that’d make it all the better for him.

Once Hunter felt relaxed enough for another, Sebastian slid it in, enjoying Hunter’s heavy breathing. “C’mon Bas, enough with the pussyfooting…” Hunter growled. Huh. Definitely not submissive at least; god, Sebastian loved power bottoms. In spite of Hunter’s words, he didn’t hurry up. His own first time bottoming had been fucking painful, some guy who’d listened to Sebastian when he insisted he just hurry up and fuck him, and he’d slid in with barely enough prep, tearing Sebastian.

His two fingers worked in Hunter, stretching carefully, scissoring open as he pulled them halfway out. Hunter made a soft sound of enjoyment in his throat, clenching around him greedily. Sebastian couldn’t help but watch his two fingers sliding in and out, twisting; he was entranced. That might have been the hottest thing he’d  _ever_  seen, and he’d seen Hunter giving him head.

“Like that?” Sebastian murmured into Hunter’s ear. His words sounded slurred to him, probably were. Hunter nodded once, clenching again. Sebastian brought his spare hand around to his front, squeezing Hunter’s half-hard cock. It perked up happily when Sebastian’s hands started smoothing over him, jerking him off with aching slowness.

His fingers pressed in a little deeper, still searching, and curled his fingers towards Hunter’s front, dragging the pads of his fingers down over what he was sure was the right spot and… 

Hunter shuddered, clenching around Sebastian’s fingers. “Oh my god, do that again.”

“Do what?” Sebastian breathed into Hunter’s ear.

“With your fingers…” Hunter ground out, obviously not in the mood for Sebastian’s games.

Sebastian smirked and curled his fingers up a few times, rubbing back and forth. Hunter honest to god  _whined_.

“Oh my god…” Sebastian did it again and Hunter fucked himself down on Sebastian’s fingers, his hands gripping the bedframe he was clutching, hands going white. “Fuck fuck fuck…” Hunter breathed, head falling back a little.

Sebastian grinned, curling his fingers faster, circling, trying to find the movements that left Hunter whining, groaning and swearing.

 Hunter sounded positively wrecked. Sebastian had heard Hunter on the verge of orgasm numerous times, but he’d never sounded like this, never squirmed under Sebastian’s touch, arching up. It was hot, to say the least. Eventually, he added his third finger, knowing it would make things a little harder to manipulate, but still absolutely determined to fuck Hunter.

Sebastian sucked kisses along Hunter’s shoulders, curling his fingers around faster and harder. “You have a sensitive prostate,” Sebastian pointed out as Hunter groaned. One of his hands on the bedframe snaked behind him, flying down to Sebastian’s wrist and fucking himself a little with Sebastian’s fingers. Sebastian didn’t stop, just get dragging his fingers back and forth.

“Mmm so?”

“I hardly have any prostate sensitivity, you bastard, and I’d kill for it. And you’re moaning like a whore when I barely have to touch you. It’s not fair, I tell you,” Sebastian grinned, grinding his cock against Hunter’s back. Fuck, he wanted to be inside of him so badly, but Hunter looked  _so hot_  fucking himself with Sebastian’s hand, felt so incredible around his fingers.

“Come. On,” Hunter ground at Sebastian through clenched teeth, finally letting go of Sebastian’s wrists. Sebastian really needed to get Hunter drunk more often if it lead to things like this.

Sebastian finally withdrew his fingers, squirted more lube on his fingers to rub around his cock, wiping his slicked fingers on the bed before grabbing Hunter’s hips. With one hand, he lined his cock up with Hunter, and slowly started pushing inside. Again, he waited as Hunter clenched and unclenched on the air, easing in carefully, stopping every so often to feel Hunter squeeze around him, and then relax. His hips met Hunter’s ass, both of them breathing harder than if they’d spent the past hour running, not making out and preparing to fuck.

Hunter was so hot and tight around him, slick from his prepping, and everything Sebastian had ever wanted. Shit, it felt so good, he couldn’t even think. The alcohol made his head spin, combined with the pleasure, heat boiled in his stomach, tingling stretching to every extremity.

“Do it…” Hunter ordered against Sebastian’s mouth as he came around to kiss him, back arching. Sebastian obeyed, starting slowly, and then, when Hunter growled at him increased his pace. Having spent a good period of time playing with the sensitive spots, Sebastian knew exactly where to aim.

Hunter’s head fell back again, a deep groan torn from his mouth. Sebastian buried his face in Hunter’s good side of the neck, nipping at his skin, hands going to Hunter’s longish hair, burying in the strands, tugging them roughly as he fucked Hunter hard. Hunter met him easily, almost taking over, clearly showing Sebastian that just because he was bottoming didn’t mean he was submitting. Sebastian was still  _his_.

Filthy words poured from Hunter’s mouth, demands for  _more_ , and  _harder_ , and  _faster_ , and  _right fucking there, Bas_ , and Sebastian fought to meet his demands. His fingers tightened on Hunter’s hips, orgasm close to overwhelming him. With reluctance, he released Hunter’s hair, dragging his hand down Hunter’s sweat damp chest, found his cock, where Hunter was already furiously fisting it. His fingers closed over Hunter’s and with an impossibly tight clench around Sebastian’s cock, and a throaty groan, he game, come spilling over their combined fingers.

Somehow, Sebastian knew he’d been given unconscious permission to come now that Hunter had, and with a few rough thrusts, he came as well, head falling back, panting heavily.

Hunter slumped down onto the bed, breathing heavily. Sebastian gave himself a quick breather before making his way to the bathroom on shaking legs. There, he grabbed a facecloth, rinsed it with water, and brought it back to the room, tossing it. It landed on Hunter’s back, and Hunter flipped him the bird as he rolled up, wiping himself off.

“Tell anyone about that, and I’ll shoot your dick off,” Hunter warned, voice indicating that he was still quite as drunk as Sebastian felt.

Sebastian was unable to stop the laughter that fell from his mouth. “I’ll be sure to keep all Infected on the outs. It can be our little secret,” he snorted, finding it far funnier than he ought to. The cloth hit his face, Hunter’s aim apparently still excellent even whilst drunk.

With a chuckle, Sebastian cleaned himself off, and then climbed back onto the bed beside Hunter, grinning. They lay in silence, not even touching, for a good few minutes. Finally, Sebastian cracked up, snorting “Power bottom…”

Hunter shoved him.


	11. Chapter 11

_Days 51 to 54_  

"Truth," Sebastian started, thumbs tucked into the straps of his backpack, dragging it from where it was digging into his shoulders and letting some cool air drift in to cool the sweat damp skin, "biggest mistake you've ever made? What's the one thing that you completely regret in life, what you wish you could change more than anything?"

Hunter paused for a long while, and were it not for his expression, one of a deep thinking frown, twitch of his lips, he'd have assumed Hunter was ignoring him. Finally, Hunter said: "Before this, I would have said the steroids. Now... I don't know. The steroids kind of saved my life."

Sebastian raised his eyebrows. "You never talk about it," he said, dead curious as to the story behind all of it. He'd never really known what drove Hunter to take steroids, beyond his aching need for perfection. He didn't know what the crux of it all was, just that when he'd met Hunter he took steroids, and that a year later, he disappeared to a clinic for a period of time. He didn't know what caused it and even when drunk Hunter refused to talk about it. Sure, he'd mentioned briefly at the start of their trek across the country that he'd struggled with the addiction, and that it was his reason for not having the mandatory vaccination handed out a few years earlier. Beyond that, however, Sebastian was very much in the dark.

Hunter shrugged, lips twitching, a sure sign of his usual discomfort. "Not much to say, really. It was dumb as fuck. And awful as fuck to get off," he sighed, frowning. "I think..." He sighed heavily, clearly struggling to talk about something he kept so quiet for so long, "No, I know... I became addicted to the needle more than the drugs in the end; I've told you that before. Sure, getting off them was shit. Worst thing I've ever done. Getting off the needle? Hardest thing I've ever done. I started injecting saline, just for the feeling of it." He shrugged, as if it didn't matter, but Sebastian was watching him closely. He could see the tension in his shoulders, the clench of his jaw and the tightness in his neck. "I spent a while at a clinic, because I couldn't seem to withdraw on my own."

Sebastian knew that must have killed Hunter to admit, in that moment and in the past. Hunter was strong, and never admitted to needing help, so to have to him admit not only to himself, but to step forward and ask for professional help... Yeah, no wonder he didn't like to talk about it. It went against everything that was Hunter Clarington, really.

"You looked fine before you left, and like absolute shit when you returned," Sebastian said softly, thinking back to the time. Hunter and he had graduated from Dalton, although Hunter had admittedly been demoted from Captain following their disqualification, and they'd parted for the summer, planning to see each other in the fall when they started college in New York. Hunter had seemed his usual assholish self when they'd gone off to their own summers, and when he'd run into Hunter in the first year dorms at NYU... Hunter had looked like shit. He'd lost a stack of weight, seemed almost as skinny as Sebastian. His hair had been styled, sure, but it looked dead. His skin was pallid, and his lips were dry and cracked. Over the course of the year, he'd gained weight again, the life clearly returning to him. But Sebastian would never forget seeing Hunter like that, and wondering what the fuck had happened that summer. He'd eventually found out Hunter had gone to a clinic to get off the steroids, but he hadn't truly understood the implications, the depths of his addiction.

"It... wasn't my finest time, no," Hunter sighed, frown deepening. Sebastian was sure he could see his walls building up again, see him closing up and shutting Sebastian out, as if his mind was shouting 'Nope, done enough sharing for the year, no more open windows, no more,'.

Despite this, Hunter did actually continue, surprising Sebastian. "You... can't maintain that physique as easily. I'm not saying 'roids make you fit, but I came off them too fast. Lost a shit ton of weight. And I was as sick as fuck." Sebastian did remember a few times in his Senior year, shortly after their disqualification, when he'd walked into their shared dorm and found Hunter hugging the toilet bowl, or clutching his stomach desperately. Sebastian had been pissed at Hunter, didn't offer comfort and instead just left the room again. It occurred to him that those times were likely Hunter trying to withdraw on his own. Something like regret panged in his stomach; he really ought to have helped. Hunter continued: "I think my parents would have disowned me if not for one of my brothers taking a stand. I'm still... was still trying to pay for all of the medical debts I got from that clinic. Guess I don't have to pay them now if they're all Infected though." He sighed again, and his face shuttered completely, leaving Sebastian feeling a little off balance, as if he'd just witnessed something and had it snatched away all too quickly.

"The steroids were my biggest regret," Hunter said with finality in his tone, face set again.

"Not anymore?" Sebastian asked.

"Nope. If I weren't afraid of getting addicted to the needle again, I'd be Infected by now. And I'm perfectly okay with not being Infected."

Sebastian snorted. "I dunno; blood probably tastes better than some of the crap we've been eating."

Hunter gave a snort as well, a closed-mouth grin crossing his face. "True. Okay. My turn, I guess." He frowned for a moment before asking "biggest fear?"

Without hesitating, Sebastian instantly said "Needles!" He wondered if Hunter knew that, if he'd linked their conversation about Hunter's addiction to the needle to recalling Sebastian's own biggest fears. Snakes and spiders, yeah, they sucked. But he didn't screech if he saw a spider in the shower. Rats didn't freak him out like they did their old roommate. He was more than okay with heights, and water, and had outgrown his fear of the dark around age six. But needles? Holy fuck. If anyone wanted him in a cold sweat, panicking, and fighting like a child being put to bed, all they had to do was suggest a needle. He had had a grand total of one in his lifetime, or rather, had had a blood test when he applied for his life insurance at his father's insistence. They'd made him take a blood test, and he'd had to be forcibly held down by two male nurses. God, he hated needles. He hated seeing them in movies, and just... no. Sebastian really didn't like them.

"Is that why you fought so hard in Senior Year?" Hunter asked, eyes lighting as if something magical had just occurred to him. In their Senior year, when Hunter had forced many of the Warblers through a steroid injection or ten, Sebastian had insisted that some of the best dancers didn't need them. Sebastian had insisted he be spared, that he liked being slim. He found every excuse in every book, and had even smashed some of Hunter's bottles of the poison, all in an effort to avoid his own injections. In the end, he'd successfully avoided all of them, and then... shit had hit the fan.

"Wow, you're really fucking scared of needles..." Hunter said, voice a little awed. "How'd I completely miss that?" He shook his head, looking almost disappointed in himself.

Sebastian shrugged and grinned. "Fair’s fair. What’s your biggest fear?"

Hunter sighed before saying, "Spiders."

"Really?"

"Dead serious. I hate them. They’re creepy and hairy and… Nope. Don’t do spiders."

Sebastian nodded, kind of disappointed that it had been such a generic answer but also not as surprised as he’d expected. Still, trust Hunter, the guy who climbed cliffs on his weekends for fun, to be scared of something as boring as a spider.

"What’s your tattoo mean?" Hunter asked, eyes running over Sebastian’s hipbone through his shirt, where the small tattoo lay.

"You could have asked that without making it your Truth question," Sebastian chuckled, rubbing the spot absently with his thumb. "But it’s a map of Paris. A very basic map, but…" He lifted his shirt up slightly, and tugged his pants down enough that the tattoo was visible, and trailed a long finger across the blackness, and landed on a spot with a small star on it, "this is where  _Maman_  and I lived before we moved to the USA. It’s where I was born, and spend a lot of my childhood."

Hunter frowned. "I thought you’d have been raised in the country on some hippy farm."

Sebastian snorted and dropped his shirt, pants snapping back to their spot. "Nope. Born and raised in Paris. We moved here when I was still in elementary school though, so I don’t really have my accent at all. But I’ve always wanted to go back." He shrugged, smiling slightly to himself as he looked at his hipbones again. "Okay, Clarington, have you ever cheated on someone?"

Hunter appeared to think about it again, opening his mouth twice, looking ready to say something before he finally shook his head. "No. I mean, some might see it as cheating, but if you’re not in a relationship, it’s not cheating." He shot back his own question: "Have you ever been in love?"

Sebastian looked at Hunter from the feet between them as they walked. A month ago, a snort would have burst from him, and he’d have given cry of disbelief that Sebastian Smythe did not fall in love. Now? Now he was walking beside Hunter, and sometimes, all it took was  _looking_  at him for his heart to fill to bursting, and his stomach to flip flop, and he didn’t sleep well without Hunter’s arm around him, his breathing in his neck. Hunter… made him feel safe. And… in his own really fucked up way, Hunter made him feel cared for. He made Sebastian angry for not acting like his before the whole stupid Infection, because they could have  _had_  something before the world ended. Sebastian had never been in love, but fuck, all he knew was that with Hunter he wanted to fall asleep and wake up with him every day until forever. He wanted them to survive this, and kiss each morning, and be shitty and domestic and watch movies, and go running together, and fuck in the shower, and maybe get a cat and a dog together and… Fuck. He was so completely  _gone_  for Hunter Clarington.

"Yes."

He didn’t elaborate. His voice felt tight when he choked the words out, but it sounded normal to his own ears. Oh fuck, he was in love with Hunter.

Hunter looked shocked, but he schooled his expression back into normalcy quickly when it became clear that Sebastian wasn’t going to say much more. "Weirdo."

Sebastian rolled his eyes, feigning humour all the while his stomach and heart ached. Oh god, this was bad. This was really, really bad. He was in love with Hunter. Not in lust; love. He didn’t just want sex with Hunter; he wanted all of the sick, gooey things that came with it. He was going to fuck this up  _so_  badly it made him feel physically sick.

He groped for a question, desperate to make things seem normal to Hunter. "What was the last lie that you told?"

Hunter ran a hand through his hair, frowning. "Shit, I dunno, it was before this whole stupid Infection thing occurred."

"Really?"

Hunter turned and looked at Sebastian, expression serious. "I’ve never lied to you, Bas. I might skirt around the truth, but I’ve  _never_  lied to you."

"Not even when-"

"Never," Hunter interrupted.

And for some fucked up reason, likely the whole stupid  _love_  reason… Sebastian believed him. He smiled at Hunter, and after a moment, Hunter returned it, expression soft and eyes a little unmasked again. The fact that Hunter was looking at him like that… looking at him like he was  _Sebastian_  and  _special_  and… it terrified him.

He didn’t say anything.

*

Sebastian didn't know what it was about today that made things different but something was making him feel like he was simultaneously on fire and also floating in a world of softness and freaking candy or something. Hunter had apparently felt it too; he hadn't stopped touching Sebastian all day. He'd woken up to Hunter curled tightly around him, his head buried in Sebastian's neck, the heat of his sleepy snuffles warming Sebastian's throat and somehow, his heart. As he’d slowly awoken, he'd kissed Sebastian so gently, tracing every inch of his body with soft kisses, exploring him for the hundredth time with his mouth. When they'd finally broken away from each other, panting and sated, Hunter had lain beside Sebastian and kissed him sweetly until he could feel his legs again.

They’d moved onto breakfast and again, he'd just smiled at Sebastian from across the fire, a warm look in his eyes that Sebastian had seen developing over the course of the past few weeks but now obvious and bright. It was there for Sebastian to see, without a doubt. Instead of questioning it, however, he just smiled back, matching his warmth.

As they'd walked, Hunter hadn't outright grabbed his hand, just walked shoulder to shoulder with him, their hands occasionally brushing. Slowly... hesitantly, he felt Hunter's fingers then brush the back of his hand, tracing his knuckles. And then down to the gaps between his fingers. And after an hour of gently, slowly tracing Sebastian's hand, he wrapped a single finger around Sebastian's. Sebastian... had stopped breathing. It seemed Hunter wasn't going to stop there however, gathering up further courage to then put another finger in Sebastian's hand, and then another. Sebastian had stopped in the middle of the road, Hunter walking another step before realising they'd stopped. His hand didn't let go of Sebastian's.

"What are you doing?" Sebastian asked. Hunter looked embarrassed, but his eyes had shown the same warmth from that morning, and he simply gave Sebastian a sheepish grin and shrugged.

"Is it a problem?" Hunter retorted, a slight frown crossing his face.

Sebastian shook his head slowly, and then... squeezed Hunter's fingers between his, ducking his head in embarrassment. They'd walked with their hands entwined, only stopping when they got sweaty in the middle of the day. But when they'd stopped for lunch under the shade of the forest that lined the road, Sebastian stretched himself out across Hunter and kissed him softly for the hour they had lunch. He was genuinely surprised it didn't go beyond kissing, but weirdly found himself not caring. There was something to be said about exchanging warm and lazy kisses for an hour, skin touching everywhere but nowhere at the same time.

And now, hours later, after they’d set up camp, Hunter was fucking him  _hard_. One minute, they’d been shaving. Or rather, Hunter had been carefully sliding his straight razor across the delicate edges of Sebastian’s face, slicing away the inconsistent stubble that grew across his face. As soon as Sebastian had splashed his face with water again, Hunter had kissed him in a way quite reminiscent of their first kiss; gentle and tentative at first.

Of course, they were them, and if nothing else, they had libidos more rampant than a fifteen year old males, so things had quickly developed from there.

Hunter was above him, arms braced around Sebastian’s head, beside Sebastian's face, hips fucking harder and harder with each thrust, groans ripping from his throat. Sebastian couldn't stop his own sounds coming from deep inside of his throat, head thrown back as he just took what Hunter gave him, hips moving up to meet Hunter's thrusts, legs wrapped tightly around Hunter's waist, his knees occasionally meeting Hunter's ribs. It was rough and a little violent, and just like the rough sex Sebastian so often craved.

Occasionally, Hunter would lean down, kissing him and then biting hard along his jawline, the sensitive skin of his neck, into his shoulders and biting into the muscle. Sebastian returned the favour, his nails scrabbling up Hunter's sweat-dampened back, as his cries got louder and louder, his release so insanely close yet so fucking far away. Sebastian wanted to get a hand between them, to jerk himself off, so desperate to get off, but Hunter's stomach kept pressing his cock between his own stomach, providing enough friction to tease, but just not enough to get him off in any hurry.

Instead, he felt his arms getting slammed down above his head, Hunter's hands holding his, fingers entwined as he fucked faster now, the hardness still there but the violence of his thrusts easing.

Hunter groaned, a small blissful smile on his face as he ground his hips into the back of Sebastian's thighs, Sebastian's back arched, a whine of displeasure coming from him at the lack of friction again.

"Just keep... fucking... going," Sebastian ground out, biting his lip, head tilting in an attempt to bury itself in the sleeping bag, half trying to ease the sounds of his loud cries. They were in the middle of nowhere, had nobody around to hear them, but they felt loud to Sebastian’s ears. Still, he clutched desperately at Hunter, needing him closer and closer, legs bringing him in so tight it made his legs shake, made his abs hurt. All that mattered was getting as close to Hunter as possible, and not letting go. Ever.

"God yes..." Hunter groaned, hands letting go of Sebastian's as he buried his fingers in Sebastian's hair, pulling his head back slightly to bite his jaw again. "Fucking love you," he groaned, sounding wrecked and broken, so incredibly close and... Out of nowhere, Sebastian's orgasm hit him, white rushing over him in a way he’d never expected, surprising him and leaving him shuddering and shaking, muscles twitching. Hunter fucked into him one last time, holding for a second, and Sebastian swore he could feel him pulsing and twitching inside of him.

As soon as he’d regained some semblance of an ability to speak, he looked up at Hunter, eyes wide. "What?" He gasped, breath coming in shot rasps.

Hunter pulled off of Sebastian, collapsed beside him and ran a hand through his sweaty hair. "Shit…" He swore.

Sebastian sat up, blood rushing from his head from the sudden movement, and he swayed a little; his eyes remained intent on Hunter. " _What_  did you say?" His heart raced, and he felt this horrible hope and excitement pounding in his chest and tightening his stomach. No, he had to have been imagining things. Hunter… didn’t love him, did he? Holy shit, did Hunter love him? He didn’t think Hunter had a heart or was capable of such a thing.

Hunter groaned and buried his head in Sebastian’s sweaty shoulder, twitching slightly when the movement aggravated the bullet wound at his neck.

"Look, don’t question it, Bas," he advised, voice muffled by Sebastian’s skin. His damp hair tickled the underside of Sebastian’s smooth chin. Sebastian chuckled breathlessly and hesitantly wrapped his arms around Hunter’s body.

He hadn’t imagined it. If he had imagined it, Hunter would have been asking Sebastian why he was hearing things. Instead, Hunter was telling him not to question it. Holy shit. _Hunter was telling him not to question it._ He wasn’t denying it. Hunter  _loved_  him. Hunter had just told Sebastian that he loved him, and he wasn’t denying it but was rather telling Sebastian not to question it.

Sebastian couldn’t breathe. His stomach tightened. His throat clenched. And all he wanted to do was laugh. Everything felt incredible. He felt on top of the world. A laugh bubbled out of his throat and he pulled back from Hunter a little trying to look at his face.

Hunter glared up at Sebastian, his cheeks the lightest shade of pink. Despite his apparent embarrassment, his eyes were sure and spoke volumes to Sebastian. For a moment, Sebastian considered saying something, anything. Anything he might have said became caught on his tongue, and after a few garbled sounds, he sank his fingers into Hunter’s hair at the back of his neck and dragged him close, kissing him deeply. A heady, passionate kiss later, he managed to mumble against Hunter’s mouth an "I love you," back.

"Don’t fuck with me," Hunter growled against Sebastian’s mouth, his arms circling Sebastian’s waist and back, his warm forearms sticking to his damp back.

"Am not. Love you," Sebastian pulled his mouth half an inch from Hunter’s to get the words out, pressing his lips back to Hunter’s as soon as he got them out. He wondered if it was a physical possibility to explode from happiness. He knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that he’d never felt anything like this before, and likely never would again.

Finally, they broke away, foreheads pressing against each other’s, hands buried in the other’s hair. Hunter’s warm breath mingled with Sebastian’s, nose brushing Sebastian’s in a soft caress. His blue eyes were close to Sebastian’s and bore into his own green ones. He felt Hunter shift slightly and tangle their legs together.

"I love you," Hunter repeated, voice soft but firm. "And I hope you put that to memory, because there’s no way in hell I’m saying that again for at least another year."

A giddy laugh bubbled out of Sebastian. "Of course. You’ve reached your yearly quota for affectionate and non-aggressive phrases. You can go wrestle a bear or something if it’ll help you regain your manliness. Or we can high-five. It’s not gay if you high-five afterwards, right?" he teased, sucking Hunter’s lower lip between his teeth for a moment.

Hunter laughed softly against Sebastian’s mouth, fingertips running along Sebastian’s cheek gently. "I’m not gay," he insisted, dragging his teeth slowly around Sebastian’s upper lip. "I just… love you."

Sebastian snorted. "You can stop saying it now. I don’t want your brain to short circuit or something."

"Oh fuck off," Hunter laughed, flicking Sebastian’s forehead. Sebastian laughed again and buried his head in Hunter’s neck, determined to enjoy his afterglow. 


	12. Chapter 12

_Days 55 to 56._

As they approached Denver, Hunter became more quiet and withdrawn than Sebastian had seen him in years. He walked a few steps ahead of Sebastian, a sudden change from his behaviour of the past few days when he'd almost held Sebastian's hands as they walked, had stumbled out a confession of love mid-orgasm. Sebastian knew better than the question it, although his mind screamed at him to ask what it was about. Hunter had labelled himself as straight for as long as Sebastian had known him, and perhaps the impending fear of seeing his parents, of perhaps reintroducing Sebastian was putting untold pressure on him.

The last time Hunter's parents had met Sebastian, things had gone less well than Hunter likely wanted. Hunter's parents rarely made the trip to New York and as such the first time they'd met Sebastian had been the only time in six years. Hunter wasn't particularly close to his parents and was much closer with his older brothers but he respected his parents so much that it made Sebastian wrinkle his nose in distaste. The time he'd met Colonel Clarington and his "lovely" wife, he had been honestly shocked not to see Hunter standing at full salute and shouting 'Heil Hitler'. Yes, he knew the joke was in poor taste, but really, the Colonel may as well have been Hitler for all the fear he instilled in Hunter.

It probably hadn't helped that Sebastian had met them both without a shirt, and escorting his previous fuck to the door, neck and chest covered in hickeys and back scratched up. And he probably hadn't helped matters by smirking at the three of them in the living room, and then heavily kissed his one-nighter, before slapping his ass and waving him out. Yeah, Sebastian was kind of a shithead when it came to meeting homophobic assholes who couldn't actually do anything about it. In the streets, yeah, he might have avoided doing something of the sort, not wanting to risk becoming another fucking hate crime statistic. In the safety of his living room, however, he felt more than safe enough to rub his blatant homosexuality into the face of a man who looked like he wanted to bluster profanities at Sebastian and forbid Hunter from ever seeing him again.

The worst part was that he knew that if the Colonel ever forbade Hunter from communicating with Sebastian again, he likely would. Sebastian knew very little about Hunter's childhood, but he knew enough to know that whilst Hunter would never say it in as many words, he was damn terrified of his father. Hunter had been blunt about the fact that on "necessary occasions", Hunter had been acquainted with his father's belt. Sebastian was horrified and didn't even try to understand; his own mother had been a firm believer in non-violent punishments. Pfft, as if she'd punished him anyway; he'd been the goddamn superfood of her eye.

Denver rose in the horizon, and judging from the map they'd pored over that morning, they'd make it there by early afternoon the next day. Hunter looked so cold and distant that Sebastian couldn't find the words to tease him with.

They'd discussed over breakfast where Hunter's parents lived, the southern area of town, towards the city. Hunter knew various pathways to his parents house and hopefully they'd be able to avoid any and all Infected.

As they made their way into town the next day, the silence was so thick that Sebastian was speechless for one of the few times in his life. To speak, to break the heavy tension felt forbidden, and every time he opened his mouth, even to breathe a little heavier, Hunter shot him a look that left him feeling small. Sebastian had never felt small in his life.

Finally, Sebastian asked the question that had been weighing on his mind: "Do you think they'll be Infected?"

Hunter was silent for a long period, but Sebastian had grown used to that when he asked the tough questions. "I'm trying not to think about it," Hunter said stiffly.

"But...?" He'd heard the unspoken word it at the end of Hunter's phrase.

"But... They were always quite meticulous in vaccinating us as children. And my family is just as perfectionistic as I am; they wouldn't have turned down the vaccination."

He sounded defeated and it took all of Sebastian's self control not to stop and try and bring him into his arms. Despite that feeling, he didn't. He just continued walking three steps behind Hunter, hearing the sounds of their boots bounce off the sides of the houses around them.

The Clarington Estate was larger than Sebastian had expected. He'd known Hunter's family had been well off, that they'd have to have been to put four boys through military school and college, in spite of them all having scholarships, but he was surprised to see it was larger than his parents homes. Sebastian had long been of the belief that his family was significantly wealthier than the Claringtons; perhaps he'd been wrong. The drive was concrete and stretched up a large overgrown grassy way, lined neatly with hedges. The grass was longish, having gone two months minus a mowing apparently, but Sebastian was certain it would have been trimmed to military perfection months ago.

The house was enormous, but Sebastian supposed that wasn't unusual given the four Clarington boys. Still, it spoke of money, wealth that Hunter had never mentioned. Sebastian was impressed.

Hunter led the way up the drive, his movements stiff. The gate had been locked, and a little harder to pick than Sebastian cared to think about. He wasn't sure if he was glad of the lock or not; it basically meant that Hunter's family was very likely beyond the gates, unless of course they'd fallen into the lake that sprawled out the side of Hunter's house.

When he glanced over at Hunter again, Hunter's face had gone white, and his gun was drawn, resting heavily in his hand. Sebastian slowly did the same, not sure of what Hunter was expecting. If they were Infected, they would likely be dead by now, having run out of blood.

"We won't bother with the house for now..." Hunter said slowly, and instead of leading them up the large marble steps to the front door, he walked around the side of the large home. As they walked, Sebastian glanced into the rooms, seeing leather couches and cherry wood floors, a wrought iron railing on large stairs. The stray and unwelcome thought of Hunter's childhood bedroom sprung to mind, but he shoved it away; they had far more serious things at hand.

As they rounded the house, he almost rolled his eyes. A fucking stable? Of course Hunter's family owned horses. Seriously, how had they had so much fucking money and Sebastian never known of it?

Hunter was heading straight for the stables and Sebastian knew why all of a sudden; it was where they'd have headed for the blood. If they were still alive, they would be there. Sebastian couldn't decide which he would prefer to see; Hunter's dead family or having witness them dying.

Suddenly, this felt like a masochistic journey of epic proportions. If Hunter knew his family was going to be Infected, why was he there? Couldn't he live with not knowing? ...No, Sebastian couldn't live with himself not knowing about his own family either. Of course Hunter had to be there. Despite knowing Hunter needed this, it still made Sebastian feel sick to the stomach.

When Hunter threw the doors of the stables open, they were met with the smell of rotting flesh. Sebastian's hands flew to his face to prevent the smell from making him sick, the stench so overwhelming he could taste it.

They'd stepped through the stables and out into a small yard surrounded by wooden fences. Sebastian wasn't familiar with horses, didn't know the proper name for the little yard, but right then didn't feel like the appropriate time to be wondering what the correct term was.

He'd mentally tried to prepare himself for things, and Sebastian may not have liked kids, but... fuck, he hadn't expected there to be children there. He didn't know why Hunter's brothers and their families were at the Clarington estate, given that he knew they all had homes of their own, but... they were. Fuck, it wasn't just Hunter's parents. It was Hunter's brothers, and his sisters-in-law, and his nephews and nieces. It was the horses, and... Sebastian knew he'd throw up as soon as he got the chance.

For now, Hunter surveyed the situation. Some bodies lay on the ground, dead, torn apart, in various stages of rotting. Two of the eight or... nine? Yes, there were nine horses, were still miraculously alive, but torn and bleeding, their screeching whinnies chilling Sebastian to the bone. There were some still living, one that was clearly the Colonel, and another Sebastian recognised as Hunter's eldest brother. Apparently even when Infected, they were still the strongest, the fittest.

Now, he and Hunter stood on the same level and Sebastian dragged his eyes from the battlefield on the small round of dirt, covered in bodies and blood, to look at Hunter. Hunter had completely shut himself away, that much was clear. He surveyed the scene with a heavy heart.

He barely knew these people, but they were Hunter's family. Hunter had never once said it, but he was a man with strong family values. He didn't love his father, but he respected him. He did love his brothers and had since learned that it was due to them that his parents hadn't disowned him when he'd gone through steroid recovery. Hunter had never been the kind to bring out pictures of his nieces and nephews but when Sebastian had stolen his phone to set his own face as Hunter's background and the face of all of his contacts, he'd found stacks of pictures of his nieces and nephews through his album.

Seeing them lying there on the ground in front of him, all around him, it would have been killing Hunter. Sebastian wasn't given the chance to think however; Hunter's father and brother were approaching them, apparently keen for fresh blood. Sebastian didn't even raise his gun, knowing that Hunter wouldn't forgive him if he took the shots.

Hunter shot them both through the head, quickly and efficiently. There was no fanfare, no heartbreaking dramatic music. There was... nothing. Just the sound of a few bullets cracking the air and the heavy thud of bodies hitting the dirt. 

A heavy silence hung around them. Sebastian couldn't even hear Hunter's breathing, and when he dragged his eyes from one of the corpses he noticed Hunter was barely breathing, his inhalations shallow, his chest barely moving. Slowly, hesitantly, Sebastian took a step forward and then when Hunter didn't move, he took another, a hand going out to rest on his forearm, desperate to offer some form of comfort, anything.

Hunter's arm shot up and knocked Sebastian's arms so hard that it knocked the loaded gun from his hand, a bullet cracking out of it as it flew in the air, gun landing with a heavy thunk on the dirt. Sebastian's forearm hurt where Hunter's arm had hit him, and he rubbed it absently, a frown of pain and confusion creasing his face.

"Hunt-" Sebastian started, voice soft but overly loud in the deafening silence.

"Don't!" Hunter snarled, not turning to look at Sebastian. "Just... don't."

Something inside of Sebastian shrunk. He withdrew carefully, almost afraid to make a sudden movement for fear of Hunter reacting on instinct and shooting him or something equally pleasant. He moved over to his dropped gun and knelt down, flicking the safety back onto it before holstering it, wiping it on his fatigues before he dropped it into the leather. With it weighing his hip again, he moved back to Hunter. Hunter hadn't moved.

Hunter still radiated tension, his shoulders tight and practically around his ears. He was so still that Sebastian wondered if he'd been hurt or something horrible. He could tell from the side that Hunter was still staring at his father and brother's corpses, or what was left of them after the close range bullets had run them through.

Going with his intuition, rather than his emotions, he moved around the small yard, inspecting the bodies, shooting them each in the head. He could tell by the smell that most of them were dead, but he wasn't going to risk them literally becoming zombies and coming back from the dead and causing further problems. He then moved over to the sobbing horses, the poor animals whinnying weakly at him.

He made a silent apology to them, and took his aim at the first beast. He knew horses didn't have feelings like humans; hell, before that moment he'd never thought he'd cared all that much about animals. As he looked at them however, saw the fear and pain in their eyes, saw the blood running down their broken and torn bodies... he felt true pity, a sadness he'd never really understood. Killing a human was one thing; this was a human fight, not an animals. It sickened him that all of these poor animals had to suffer and die because of the stupid fuck ups of humanity. They all suffered because some humans had become elitist, had tried to play god.

Sebastian took a moment to pray to a god he didn't believe in, closed his eyes so he didn't have to see the life leave the poor horse, and shot. There was a sickening crack, and the head dropped to the ground. For a long moment, he stared at the poor creature, before moving over to the other horse. It was in just as bad shape as its friend, but it seemed to have a little more life to it. It kicked its poor legs, trying to fight, trying to run. Maybe if Sebastian had any medical experience, he could have saved it. He could have patched up the hundreds of wounds on the body, the clear bite marks that littered its chestnut body. But Sebastian knew... knew this was kinder. It killed something in Sebastian that he didn't know he had, something he'd never really thought about before. He had no idea what it was; all he knew was that something in his chest sunk and died, falling to the pit of his stomach and curling up there.

He shot again, watched the life drop instantly from the horses eyes. Another part of his conscience cracked.

Finally, he turned back to Hunter. Hunter hadn't moved, his eyes still resting on his father. Now facing him, Sebastian could see that there was no colour to Hunter's face, nothing to his mouth. His hair, the strands which had grown long in the past two months, hung over his face, hiding his eyes from Sebastian's sympathetic gaze.

"C'mon Hunt..." Sebastian tried, voice soft as he reached for Hunter again. Hunter's arms snapped up to block Sebastian's touch, a move he'd seen Hunter practicing before he taught a self-defence class. It stung Sebastian's arms again, and he pulled his own sore arm against his chest, frowning at Hunter and trying not to be too bothered by it. "C'mon. We... we should go..." he said softly, almost pleading with Hunter.

"No." Hunter's voice was hollow and sounded so unfamiliar to Sebastian. He didn't sound like soldier Clarington; he didn't sound anything like anyone Sebastian had ever heard, and that terrified him. "I need to bury them," Hunter explained, voice still distant.

"Do you need help?" Sebastian asked finally, sighing.

Hunter shook his head once. "No."

That stung Sebastian far more than he cared to admit. He knew this was tough. He did. He'd killed his own father, brother and stepmother just two months earlier. He got that it was... impossible. Hard would never even begin to describe it. Still, he was hesitant to leave Hunter alone like this. Who knew what he'd do? Would he take a bullet to his own head?

"Will you be okay?" Sebastian heard himself asking through the rough stupor building in his mind.

Hunter gave a jerky nod, and finally dragged his eyes from the fallen bodies of his father and brother. Sebastian almost wished he hadn't when their eyes met; Hunter may well have been dead himself for the lack of life Sebastian saw in the icy blue then. It physically hurt him to meet Hunter's eyes and see nothing of the man he'd come to love in them.

"Where... where do you want me?" Sebastian asked. He could have stayed and helped Hunter, but he knew Hunter. Hunter didn't deal with things with people around; whenever something upset him, he needed to be alone. He needed isolation. Sebastian had to give him space to do... whatever it was that Hunter Clarington did in a fucked up situation like this.

"The house," Hunter told him. He blinked slowly, dark eyelashes fanning across his cheeks as he inhaled slowly. Sebastian watched him reach for his holsters and unbuckle them, holding them forward for Sebastian to take. A rush of relief burst through Sebastian's chest; Hunter knew it was a risk. Good.

"Will you be safe on your own?"

"They all dead?" Hunter countered.

Sebastian nodded.

"Good. Leave." Hunter's voice was cutting and harsh, and it stung Sebastian. He told himself that it was okay, that everyone dealt with grief in their own way. Hunter would come to him when he was ready.

Sebastian exhaled. He desperately wanted to reach out and touch Hunter, soothe him, ease any of the pain, take it all into himself so Hunter didn't have to look so lost, so fucking broken. He couldn't though, and it killed him a little. Instead, he took the leather straps from Hunter's hands, let his fingers trail over Hunter's warm hands, and brought the guns to his chest. Without saying another word, he turned and started back towards the house, leaving Hunter.

Sebastian left Hunter down at the stables and slowly, anxiously began to trek up towards the house. He kept glancing over his shoulder to see what Hunter was doing, but he'd hardly moved. At one point, when he finally reached the top of the slope he turned around fully and saw Hunter on his knees, head buried in his hands. Something in his stomach tightened to the point he had to physically force himself to turn away, not stalk back down the hill and take Hunter into his arms. Hunter wouldn't appreciate it, and he knew Hunter needed this. At least... that's what he was going to tell himself. He took a heavy breath and then turned back to the large glass back doors of the Clarington mansion.

He could have just broken the glass and unlocked the doors, but he somehow felt that it wasn't appropriate to damage the house. It felt like desecrating the Clarington memory in its own weird, fucked up way. Picking the locks were an infinitely better option. He finally let himself in, put his bag and the various guns on a couch, and looked around the large living room. He wasn't sure if this was a formal lounge, or if all Clarington rooms would be this stiff. He explored absently, trailing long fingers along smooth, polished leather. There was a large photograph of the Clarington family over the mantlepiece of a fireplace, obviously a recent photo. Hunter had a small scar above his eyebrow, a recent injury from their latest attempt at the Tough Mudder course; Hunter had cut himself at some point during the horrendous 20km. The photo must have been taken at Christmas or something. Despite this, none of the Claringtons looked overly happy, or festive. There were smiles from the females, but the men all looked stern, including Hunter. Suits were worn, and the Colonel wore his military uniform. Sebastian rolled his eyes at the general pompousness of it all; Sebastian and his family were rich as fuck, but at least they were ugly Christmas sweaters and had forced smiles in their family photos.

He glanced out the large French doors and saw that Hunter had grabbed a shovel from somewhere and was starting to hack into the dirt with it. Sebastian sighed and looked away, against having to force himself from going down there to help him somehow. Instead, he chose to stiffly explore the house, curious about the place Hunter had grown up in.

He wasn't all that interested in the kitchen, the various living areas, even the office of Colonel Clarington. Eventually, he ascended a large marble staircase, boots staining the soft white carpet a muddy brown. Whatever; nobody was alive to bitch at him about it. Well, Hunter might. Actually... midway up the staircase, he sat and tugged his boots off. Hunter was a terrifying force; Hunter grieving would likely shoot him for muddying the stairs of his family home.

Upstairs, he saw various bedrooms, a Master bedroom, rooms that he supposed belonged to Hunter's brothers. And then... there was a room he guessed was Hunter's. It was a little less mature than the other rooms, but just as impersonal as all of the others. It looked like a slightly more comfortable military bedroom, one with a double bed (not even a queen; shit, how did Hunter even fit?), the bookshelves filled neatly with law textbooks, classic novels, and a full shelf of Stephen King books. He wasn't sure what it was about that room that told him it was Hunter's but he just knew. Maybe it was the lingering smell. He trailed through it, letting his fingers run over the dusty desk, the windowsill. He sat slowly on the bed and looked at the bedside table as he tracked his eyes over the room. A picture, face down, caught his eye. He picked up the frame with gentle fingers, as if the tension in the air made everything more fragile in his hold.

A soft rush of shock ran through him. It was a picture, not of Hunter's family, but of Sebastian and Hunter at their graduation from NYU a few years earlier. They weren't in their ridiculous robes but Sebastian recognised the occasion. He didn't often take photos with Hunter, with anyone really, but he recognised the backdrop, their outfits even. That had been a fun day, really.

Still, he didn't know why Hunter had it framed and beside his bed, nor did he understand why it was facing down. He gave a heavy sigh and then in the same way he’d done with his own family portraits, he eased the photo out of its glass home and slid it into his battered wallet alongside his other photographs.

Eventually, Sebastian grew weary of sitting in the room, staring at Hunter’s childhood room, soaking it all in. It was exactly like Hunter, in its own abstract way; it was cold, tidy and impersonal. The room was a direct reflection of the Hunter Clarington he had to be at home. Hunter’s room back in New York felt more like the Hunter Sebastian knew. Back in New York, Hunter’s room was still tidy as hell, and organised to within an inch of OCD, but there were personal touches, a basketball sitting on the floor, some medals from lifting competitions hanging on the doorhandle, CDs stacked neatly on the desk, a few band posters hanging neatly on the wall. The bedspread wasn’t a plain navy blue like the one Sebastian was sitting on; it was blue and white striped. Sure, it was boring, but at least it was clearly chosen by Hunter and not some military style room.

Yes, Sebastian decided. This place was just Hunter’s house; it wasn’t his home.

He exhaled and stood up, leaving the room. The sun had begun to set, and when he crossed through the house to look out a window overlooking the stables, he saw Hunter digging away. Hmm. There was no way he could dig graves for all of them on his own.

With a heavy sigh, and deciding to just fuck Hunter and his stupid emotions, Sebastian descended the stairs, slipping on his boots as he went. He grabbed some water and a protein bar for Hunter and made his way back to the stables. Hunter was digging away, and barely spared Sebastian a glance as he came down the hill.

“I brought you some water and food,” Sebastian said, offering both of them to Hunter. Hunter shook his head at the protein bar but took the water, guzzling it wordlessly. Rivulets of water trickled down his neck and soaked the edge of his shirt. He handed the bottle back to Sebastian and then returned to his digging.

Sebastian didn’t bother watching, not in the mood for anything remotely sexual at that moment. Instead of arguing and trying to get him to eat, he just walked into the stable, arm going over his face to prevent the worst of the stench from infiltrating his sinuses. After some fumbling around in the semi-darkness, he managed to locate another shovel.

Hunter stopped and stared at him when Sebastian came back out, shovel over his shoulder. Sebastian met his eyes, understanding but sad nonetheless to see Hunter’s eyes looking as dead as the corpses in the yard nearby. Neither of them said anything; Sebastian just walked over to where Hunter was digging, and joined him.

The ground was hard under his shovel, and Sebastian would be lying if he said he’d ever done a day’s labour in his life. Despite the screaming of the muscles in his back, arms and neck, he continued to work beside Hunter well into the darkness of the night. The world around them slipped into night, but their eyes adjusted to the darkness. Sebastian was exhausted, but he wasn’t going to give up until Hunter did. He wasn’t going to stop until Hunter was satisfied.

Prior to their arrival in Denver, they hadn’t been all that rushed. Despite them taking their time, it had always lingered in their minds that they needed to find out about Hunter’s family, had to see if they were safe. With them confirmed as… well…

Sebastian didn’t really know what the plan was. The plan had always been that they’d get to Denver and reassess from there. California was still the goal, but as to the other details, Sebastian was in the dark. He wasn’t brave enough to ask Hunter either. Rather than risking anything, he just continued to work. The moon overhead provided enough light for them to see what they were doing, and beyond that, everything seemed insignificant.

The sky was starting to purple and mottle with pinks and oranges, and Sebastian’s nails were gritted with dirt, hands were stained with blood and tainted permanently with rotting flesh. They hadn’t really had the time to give them all individual graves. Well, they may have, but Hunter seemed intent on digging one mass grave for the humans. The horses would be burned with the stable.

Sebastian stared down into the grave, sobered and sickened by the sight of the bodies there. He wanted to feel angry, something he hadn’t felt in so long, but all he felt was tired.

Hunter seemed to be giving his family a silent funeral service, standing at the foot of the grave, lips moving just barely, no words slipping free. He stood for a very long time, just looking down at them, and Sebastian just watched Hunter. Eventually, Hunter readjusted his grip on his shovel and threw a heap of dirt into the hole, the damp soil landing softly on his nephew.

With hands blistered from the constant shovelling, Sebastian grabbed his shovel again and started helping layer the dirt on the bodies. By the time they were done, the sun was well over the horizon. Sebastian felt sick with emotion and exhaustion, and couldn’t even imagine how awful Hunter felt.

“Thank you,” Hunter said, laying the shovel at the base of the grave. He walked off quickly, towards the house, and for a moment Sebastian was about to follow after him. He then noticed Hunter wasn’t walking to the house, instead stopped at the flowers that lined the pathway up the grassy knoll. With his bare hands, he dug beneath the small bush, and carefully extricated it from the ground. Sebastian watched him, leaning heavily on his own shovel for support, needing something to keep him from collapsing to the ground from sheer exhaustion. He returned to the mass grave with the white flowery bush, and carefully added it to the base of the grave, hands shaking but gentle as he added the bush to its new home.

Eventually, once satisfied, he stood, brushing his filthy hands off on his fatigues. He gave Sebastian a sharp nod, and without a word, he spun on heel and made his way up to the house. Sebastian stood at the base of the grave for a moment, wishing the family peace, before he stumbled after Hunter, too exhausted to truly fight him.

When he reached the house, Hunter had disappeared, his backpack with it. For a moment, fear ran through him that Hunter had abandoned him, basically leaving him for dead. However as he stumbled on weary feet to chase after him, he heard the unmistakable sound of a shower starting up and breathed a sigh of relief.

Sebastian collapsed into the couch, ignoring that he smelled of blood and sweat and soil and rotting meat. He went to rub a hand over his sweaty, dirty face but stopped at the last minute when he saw his filthy hands. He probably ought to have a shower as well. God knew that the Clarington’s had more than one bathroom. He groaned heavily as he pushed himself off the couch and went to his bag, grabbing some fresher clothing as he went. Maybe he could borrow something of Hunter’s, rather than using his previously worn clothing.

He made his way up the stairs and located another bathroom, using what he supposed was the guest bathroom given it wasn’t attached to any particular bedroom. His arms trembled when he tried to turn the water on, upper body absolutely dead from the digging and burying earlier. He put the full force of his body behind it, and stale water stuttered from the chrome showerhead and finally started running. After a few minutes, the water stopped smelling off and heady, and when he poked a bloody hand under the spray, it felt warm against his blistered skin.

Hissing, he withdrew his hand and stripped off, stepping into the heat. He could barely lift his arms to wash his face and hair and instead just let the water run over him, hoping it’d clean him enough for now. When he leaned against the tiles, he shivered as his aching muscles met the hard cold. He stood there for a long time, until the feelings returned to his fingers. He almost wished they hadn’t however, when the blisters on his hands started throbbing, and his muscles pulsed with pain. Eventually he found the strength to lift his arms enough to grab some shower gel sitting in the shower, some fancy Italian brand he didn’t recognise, but smelled nice enough. He weakly scrubbed his hair, hands, face, desperate to remove the lingering feel of death from the depths of his skin.

When he was done, the sun was pouring through the windows of the bathroom, and his exhaustion was overwhelming. He barely managed to slip his underwear on, and didn’t bother with his other clothing. They felt dirty to his now clean skin, and he couldn’t be fucked. He left the clothes in the bathroom and crossed through the upstairs of the house, seeking Hunter’s bedroom.

Hunter was dressed in a black tee and jeans and sitting, broken, on his bed. His arms rested on his spread knees, shoulders slumped. In his hands, he held the empty picture frame that Sebastian had taken the photo of them from. His jaw was clenched.

“Son of a bitch,” Hunter cursed softly, shaking his head. He tossed the empty frame over at his bedside table with such force that it shattered as it hit the wood, glass shards flying everywhere. Sebastian winced. Hunter looked up at him, almost glaring at Sebastian.

“Take some of my clothes. And then, leave me alone,” Hunter said coldly, eyes still unfeeling as they stared at Sebastian.

Sebastian nodded wordlessly. Hunter stood and walked to a chest of drawers and rummaged around, pulling a tee from the bottom of the drawers, and some sweatpants from another. Sebastian nodded his thanks, and hesitated at the doorway.

“Are you sure you want to be alone?” he asked, voice soft. He didn’t think Hunter should be left alone; he needed something right then. Sebastian didn’t know what it was, but he knew he could potentially provide it.

“Yes. Leave. Now,” Hunter’s voice remained impassive and his eyes didn’t meet Sebastian’s again.

Sighing heavily, Sebastian folded the clothing over his arms and left the room, not shutting the door behind him. He had reached the top of the stairs when he heard the door slam shut, the pictures hanging on the walls shaking with the force of it. A second later, he heard the click of the lock. Sebastian knew he could pick it with a credit card, but it was the meaning behind it all. Hunter did not want him in with him.

Sebastian had never felt anything like this before, but he was absolutely convinced that this was what being hurt felt like.


	13. Chapter 13

_Days 57 to 62._

Sebastian couldn't sleep. He was unsurprised by this however given how attached he'd grown to sleeping beside Hunter. As he lay in what he was sure was one of the guest rooms, something he had guessed from the lack of a single photograph or personal touch, he tossed and turned. He was aware of... everything. It was dead silent. It was cool in Colorado so he'd left the window closed. He hadn't realised he'd become so used to the sounds of nature, the soft chirp of crickets and the soothing brush of a breeze at night to disturb the trees and grass around them, brushing the plastic material of the tent.

He had realised previously how used to Hunter he was, but what bothered him more than that attachment was that he was away from Hunter.

In the way that Sebastian had begun to cling to Hunter, it seemed Hunter was withdrawing to the same degree. Sebastian had never  _needed_  someone before... But right then? Right then, he needed Hunter.

He tossed in the stiff sheets again and rolled onto his stomach, breathing in the smell of fabric starch, some floral smell that he'd never smelled at his mother's house but lingered in the beds of the men he bedded. Who would have thought he'd become used to the smell of a plasticy sleeping bag?

The sheets and bedroom smelled cold and clean and in the past, he would have appreciated the upgrade in the sleeping conditions. However, all he wanted was Hunter's steady breathing beside him. Shit, he was so fucking gone for him.

After rolling around in the sheets for a little longer, with sleep not coming to him, he sat up, the sheets pooling around his waist to drop into his lap. He rubbed a hand over his face. Despite his exhaustion, and the fact that the room had surprisingly good black out curtains, sleep just wasn't falling over him.

He kicked the sheets and blankets off and grabbed a throw blanket off the end of the bed, wrapping it around his shoulders. He longed for his hoodies back in New York, the comfort and warmth they provided him without smelling of dirt and sweat. At least the throw blanket was comfortable, if a little on the girly side; it was dark blue but had black lace edging. Gross.

He walked into the hallway and across to Hunter's room. When he tried the doorknob to Hunter's room he was unsurprised to find the door still locked. He was sorely tempted to pick it but in the end he sighed sadly and made his way back to the guest bedroom. He flopped onto the bed face first, sadness and guilt eating away at him. He knew the death of Hunter's family wasn't his fault but he still felt awful. That thought alone should have shocked him out of his misery; he'd never felt anything like this before either, and surely that indicated some pretty intense shit regarding Hunter. Instead, he felt sorry for himself. He wanted, no,  _needed_  Hunter but Hunter was locked away in his room.

Eventually, the exhaustion overwhelmed Sebastian and he fell into a deep, disturbed sleep. Images of blood and gore, and the sounds of screams and abuse assaulted his subconscious. His sheets strangled him and despite the coolness of the night he developed a layer of cold sweat.

He awoke, panting heavily and screaming for his father. He'd just had his first nightmare about his family dying since he and Hunter had started sleeping together.

He tried not to think about what that meant.

*

Everything changed.

Sebastian should have expected it really. When he'd killed his family, he'd felt changed and isolated and angry. Hunter was far worse. He had withdrawn completely from Sebastian. Perhaps he'd been clinging to the kind of intense hope and that had been brutally torn from him.

Sebastian hadn't thought that Hunter was all that close to his family, but he supposed he'd been wrong before. He felt foolish for thinking Hunter wasn't close to his family, in a way had clung to that hope even. He'd desperately held onto the idea that Hunter wasn't close to them and wouldn't feel the loss all that significantly. In the same way that Hunter's family had been brutally torn away from him, so were Sebastian's hopes.

Apparently Hunter had cared more for his family than he'd ever cared to let on, particularly given the way he was handling their deaths. It wasn't that he was crying; it was that he'd completely shut down.

Sebastian had managed to sleep through the rest of the day and well through the night, only awakening when an inconvenient ray of sunshine pierced his eyes through the otherwise blackout curtains. Traitorous fucks. He'd slept poorly, despite sleeping for a long time. His body had missed Hunter's and he'd woken several times, panicked as he searched for Hunter's body and breathing. As soon as he'd recalled where he was, he'd sunk back into sleep, frequently disturbed by nightmares that left him panting, sometimes screaming, and sobbing into his pillow. Still, the constant interruptions resulted in him feeling like he hadn't slept. He'd crept out of the bedroom and found Hunter already up, dressed in fatigues Sebastian supposed he owned previously. They looked good on him, and were definitely not the ones Sebastian had seen him wearing for the past month.

“What’s the plan today, Cap’n?” Sebastian asked weakly, hoping to go for humour but his poor attempt at a joke fell flat.

“Don’t,” Hunter said coldly, eyes flat. Sebastian swallowed, already cowed by his expression. “Eat something. Get ready. You have ten minutes,” Hunter continued on shortly.

“What about you?” Sebastian asked.

“I’m ready,” Hunter replied shortly and without looking at Sebastian descended the stairs.

Sebastian clumped after him, his heavy boots loud on the stairs despite the carpet. “Have you eaten?”

“Not hungry.”

“Hunter, don’t be like that. You know you have to eat. You were exhausted from lack of food before,” Sebastian argued.

Hunter spun and faced Sebastian with a glare. “I’m not hungry,” he repeated, punctuating each word strongly. “Now, shut up. Eat something. Get ready.”

Sebastian’s chest tightened in a way he hated. He’d never let anyone affect him like this, and he wasn’t about to start. He didn’t care if Hunter had said… those words… a few days earlier. He didn’t care if he’d muttered them back. He was not going to let Hunter fuck with his emotions; he’d gone years without them, and he could continue to do so. He was not going to start giving a shit now.

They left Denver shortly after that, Sebastian scoffing down some cereal he found unopened in the cupboard, some longlife milk in another. It was the first time he’d had anything not freeze dried in months, and whilst it was no salad or smoothie, it was better than the other packet mixes. God, he loved granola. Even longlife milk was nice right then. Despite loving granola and the change in his diet, he couldn't enjoy it. Everything tasted like cardboard. He just wanted Hunter to talk to him. Hunter had never been much of a talker, but it was always more than the stony silence he was currently encountering.

He finally managed to swallow down a cursory breakfast, finishing in the timeframe Hunter had allocated to him. Hunter was waiting against the front door by the time he ran out there, his stomach protesting at the quick movements.

"Good," Hunter said coldly, pushing away from the door, "let's go."

"Hunt, c'mon," Sebastian started, trying to get something from him, anything.

Despite his words, Hunter said nothing. He didn't give Sebastian so much as a glance in his direction actually. It stung a great deal more than Sebastian expected. In the past six years, in spite of everything, Hunter had never outright ignored Sebastian. He'd slammed doors in his face, shouted at him, even smacked him over the back of the head a few (well-deserved, admittedly) times. Sebastian had never been ignored by Hunter though.

Eventually, as the day wore on, Sebastian gave up trying to talk to him. Hunter was barely communicating, only offering bare "Lunch now"'s and "Let's go"'s at appropriate intervals. He wouldn't even tell Sebastian where they were going, although the signs out of Denver indicated they were headed south for Colorado Springs where Hunter's old military school lay. They'd discussed previously the option of stopping there to get more supplies, possibly even look for other survivors. Hunter hadn't said anything of late, but Sebastian suspected that was their target.

They'd just passed Castle Rock when they camped for the night. Sebastian ran a mental tally; Hunter had said no more than thirty words all day. When Sebastian reached for him over dinner, Hunter flinched and jerked his arm away. Sebastian tried to tell himself that it wasn't a problem, that it was possibly even normal. Hell, for all he knew, it was normal. Just because he hadn't dealt with his father's death in the same manner didn't mean it wasn't normal. Maybe Sebastian was the freak for not getting more upset.

Regardless, all he knew was that Hunter was withdrawing and it physically hurt Sebastian, somewhere in the chest and stomach. His throat felt right and he had to force himself to eat. He knew by rights he ought to be hungry, but every time he looked at Hunter his appetite disappeared. It made him furious with himself, furious for caring, furious that he'd become that fucking idiot who fell in love.

When he fell into a fitful sleep, Hunter had his back away from him, instead of curling around him as he had become prone to do. When Sebastian tried to inch closer, Hunter shifted away, ensuring that not an inch of them was touching. Sebastian swallowed his pride, and a lump in his throat, and didn't move again.

*

Nightmares tortured Sebastian again. His sleeping hours were spent tossing and turning and filled with screams. There was more blood than he'd ever hoped to see in his life (and after the past two months, that was an awful lot). He could even smell in his dreams and it made his stomach roll. He was overpowered by the scent of rotting flesh and the dead eyes of his father and little brother. His stepmother didn't make an appearance, but that didn't matter. All that mattered was that cold emptiness in his family's eyes. As he tossed and fought against his sleeping bag, his mind conjured the image of his mother screaming for him, and soon after presented him with the image of her body being torn apart by a Creature. He watched as the Creature bit into her stomach, heard her begging for him to save her. Sebastian couldn't move. He was paralysed, held by some kind of invisible restraints. Her voice broke into sobs, and it was only when her head dropped and the life flickered out of her eyes that he was able to break free, shooting the Creature in the back of the head.

He ran forward to save her, yanking the fallen Creature from his mother's body. As he did, he saw the Creature's face.

It was Hunter.

Sebastian sat up with a gasp. He'd had nightmares before, but nothing that left his heart pounding as hard as it was right then, nothing that lead to tears running down his face. He gave a shaky exhale and brought a hand to his face, scrubbed angrily at the tears on his face. He buried his face in his hands and brought his knees up, dropping his head onto them. For a long moment, he just breathed and tried to calm his erratic breathing and tried to ease the terror flooding him. He'd never really suffered from nightmares, not as a child, or even after the death of his father and brother. Hunter had been there and somehow soothed them; or perhaps it had been the sheer exhaustion that kept him in such a deep sleep that he hadn't been able to dream. Now, Hunter lay with feet between them his back turned to him. Sebastian could tell from his breathing that Hunter was awake and just not turning around. Sebastian had woken Hunter with his nightmares and Hunter knew he was upset and he did... nothing. That stung.

Maybe a few months prior he wouldn't have been surprised. Actually, he wouldn't have been surprised at all and would have expected Hunter to ignore him entirely for displaying any remotely weak emotion. But that had been before.

"Fuck you," Sebastian muttered into the darkness and curled up around himself and attempted to fall back to sleep.

He fell into another fitful sleep but was luckily not assaulted by another nightmare. He finally dragged himself from sleep when he felt Hunter shift into a sitting position and crawl out of the tent, apparently ready to start the day. Sebastian didn't bother lying in his sleeping bag any longer, exhausted but knowing he wouldn't get any more sleep. Hunter would likely come and wake him soon regardless.

By the time he'd rerolled his sleeping bag, Hunter had come back from his bathroom trip. Hunter had apparently slept as well as Sebastian, which was to say, not well at all. His expression was drawn, corners of his mouth turned down and tight, his eyes tired and just as empty as they were the day before.

"You going to eat today?" Sebastian asked, desperate for some kind of conversation. He hadn't expected that it could drive him insane not talking. Companionable silence had always been his preference with Hunter, but this silence was unnerving and painful.

Hunter, as anticipated, said nothing. Instead, he sat down in front of the fire he'd rekindled before his bathroom trip, grabbed a sachet of food and started heating it up. Well, that answered that question. Still, it wouldn't fucking kill him to answer.

Rolling his eyes, Sebastian stomped off from the camp to take his own bladder break. When he returned, Hunter was eating like a bird, not diving into his meal head first as he usually did. Still, at least he was eating. Sebastian would accept that. He would not accept him passing out from lack of energy or something equally unpleasant.

Sebastian grabbed his own breakfast, some stupid nutrition bar that he found tasted infinitely better when he heated it for a bit. The fire was warm against the cool Colorado air but, cliché as it sounded, it did nothing to warm the coldness slowly icing over his chest and heart.

"Hunt, c'mon. Please just... say something," he tried again when he'd finished his first mouthful of his breakfast.

Hunter looked up at Sebastian with a bored look, expression not changing.

"Please. Just... talk to me," Sebastian said, trying to ignore how dangerously close he sounded to begging. "I know it hurts. I get it. But shutting me out won't make it hurt any less. Just..." he trailed off when he saw his words were not having the desired effect on Hunter. He sighed and lowered the hand holding his warmed breakfast to his crossed legs. He suddenly wasn't hungry at all. Unfortunately, he knew he had to eat and forced himself to swallow the rest of the bar. It tasted like he was chewing through cotton as he did, sticking to his mouth and throat as he attempted to bring saliva to his mouth.

Hunter finished his own breakfast and stood wordlessly, kicking the fire out and doing a haphazard job at clearing things up. Sebastian didn't do anything, just watched as he packed things up. He knew he was being lazy, but at a large part of him hoped that if he didn't do anything, Hunter would at least snap at him to do something. His plan didn't work however, with Hunter packing up everything and just walking off without Sebastian.

Sebastian swore and hurriedly laced his boots, throwing his packed backpack over his shoulders and chasing after Hunter.

"Seriously? You were just going to leave me behind?" Sebastian snapped at him when he'd caught up.

Nothing.

"Oh, real fucking mature Clarington. Just play that game, why don't you? I was just trying to get you to say something to me, anything!"

Nothing again.

"Well maybe we should go separate ways now. I'm sure you'd love that. Won't have me slowing you down and fucking things up at every turn. But hey, who'd suck your cock then?"

To his frustration and disappointment, Hunter just continued walking, his feet a steady rhythm on the bitumen, face as blank and emotionless as it had been for the past two days. His facial muscles didn't so much as twitch when Sebastian said anything. If not for the tiny glimmer of alertness in his eyes, he would have guessed Hunter hadn't even heard him. His eyes were cold, but they were not dissociated or spaced out like that time Hunter had tried pot brownies.

He was definitely all there; he was just ignoring Sebastian completely.

Bitterness rose like bile through Sebastian’s chest and he couldn’t help the flare of anger that came with it. Fine, he was going to be like that. Sebastian could play that game too.

*

Sebastian hardly slept the next night. Again, his dreams were filled with screams from his mother, and he watched her die in every way imaginable. When he awoke panting and crying out, he knew again that Hunter was awake and not saying anything. Sebastian curled back up and managed to fall asleep again. This time, his dreams were filled with Hunter dying. He tried to keep the sobs that followed afterwards silent but he wasn’t sure he succeeded.

A third day passed without a word. Hunter looked to be as miserable and exhausted as Sebastian, but he didn’t make any attempt to come closer. In fact, he distanced himself further, if that was possible.

Sebastian didn’t get it. Was he distancing himself as a way of dealing with his grief, or was he doing it as a stupid defence thing? He didn’t want to risk losing Sebastian, or have Sebastian lose him, so he figured if they stopped caring about each other it’d hurt less when they inevitably lost their lives? Or had he just shut off all of his emotions completely?

Regardless of his motives, Sebastian thought it was completely fucked up.

As soon as he thought that, he actually stopped in his tracks. Holy crap; he was actually thinking about how shutting off emotion was a bad thing. Sebastian Smythe, king of _not giving a shit_  about anything, feelings being top of the list of things he didn’t give a shit about, was arguing internally about how shutting out feelings was a bad thing. What had he become? Who was this imposter?

He groaned slightly. He wasn’t meant to be doing this…  _feeling_  shit. It wasn’t him. But somehow, against his will, Hunter had gotten under his skin. That was a lie, actually. Hunter had always been somewhat under his skin, whether as a splinter or… something positive that he couldn’t think of, that had always been undecided. No. It was far worse than getting under his skin; Hunter Clarington, also king of  _not giving a shit_  (apparently they were co-rulers) had made him develop feelings and the ability to care. He hated it.

What was worse was that he  _didn’t_  hate it. He wanted nothing more than to curl up beside Hunter and hold him until the pain disappeared. He wanted to bring all the pain Hunter was hiding from and bring it into himself so Hunter never had to hurt again. He wanted to do weird shit like that, and what was the most sickening aspect was that he _didn’t care_. He wanted to make it all better for Hunter, and he didn’t ever care that it was completely out of character for him, and weird, and new, and terrifying. God  _damnit_!

Sebastian shoved the thoughts away, because he was not down with dealing with that shit for now.

*

On the fourth night, Sebastian was barely asleep for an hour before nightmares swamped him again. When he awoke, drenched in sweat and heart beating in such a pattern that he was briefly wondered if he was having a heart attack, and so terrified of the darkness, he felt something in him break. He rolled over to face Hunter, desperate and needing him more than he'd ever felt in his life. He was shocked to find that Hunter's sleeping bag wasn't in the tent and his panic went into overdrive. Had Hunter upped and left him during the night?

Breathing hard, he shoved out of the tent, and found Hunter leaning against a tree, wrapped around his gun, eyes lidded. They shot open as soon as Sebastian lurched out of the tent, instantly cocking his gun and aiming it at Sebastian. A few seconds passed and he realised it was Sebastian, and not... whatever he was expecting.

"What the fuck are you doing?" Sebastian snarled, his relief at seeing Hunter still there melting into anger.

Hunter said nothing and slowly lowered his gun, moving the safety back. He settled he gun into his lap, and glared across the camp site at Sebastian. Again, he said nothing.

"Seriously, Hunt, just get in the fucking tent and sleep. Neither of us are sleeping and we both know why. Now... c'mon!" He snapped, folding his arms across his chest. He was just exhausted; nightmares had attacked him every night since Hunter had begun withdrawing, and he'd been sleeping exceptionally poorly as a result. Hunter was obviously feeling the same, if the dark shadows under his emotionless eyes were any indication. Sebastian knew Hunter was exhausted; it was obvious from the way he'd begun dragging his walking, boots loud on the gravel against the aching silence around them each day.

When Hunter said nothing, Sebastian growled and threw himself bodily back into the tent, his shoulders aching as he landed on them. The sleeping bag and mat cushioned his fall onto the ground, but not by much. He was too angry to focus on the pain anyway. Fury throbbed through him as he swaddled himself in blankets again, curled up foetal, and tried to force himself to sleep. His heart was pounding though, and all he could do was think about how angry he was at Hunter, what a fucking asshole he was being. He knew that logically, Hunter was hurting and badly and that Sebastian had to give it time, but it wasn't Sebastian's fault and the least he could do was treat him as a human.

Sebastian didn't recall falling asleep, but he knew he must have because when he woke up again, sore and with a headache thanks to his clenched jaw, it was daylight. When he eased out of the tent, he saw Hunter had apparently fallen asleep sitting against the tree. Hunter didn't react to Sebastian this time, and Sebastian decided it was in both of their best interests if he just let Hunter sleep a little longer. He was tempted to ease a blanket over him, but he didn't for fear that it would wake Hunter when he so desperately needed the sleep.

Hunter woke two hours later, and in that time Sebastian had packed their bags again and had eaten breakfast. Hunter said nothing (oh, what a fucking surprise), but fixed himself up, stuffed a protein bar in his mouth, and nodded for Sebastian to move out.

Everything came to a head on the fifth day. The tension had been building for days, boiling just below the surface. A few times already Sebastian had cracked and yelled at a silent Hunter.

He didn't know what it was about this day that fucked things up. He was tired, and exhausted. And he felt utterly broken.

When he fell into his nightmare filled sleep and woke up to see Hunter staring at him, and not doing anything, he broke. Hunter's face was shadowed by the fire; they hadn't bothered with a tent that night, instead had found a small shelter in the national park they were traversing. Hunter was leaning against a picnic table, still holding his gun, and watching Sebastian with a completely blank expression.

"You know I've been suffering, and you have done nothing," Sebastian managed to choke out. Against his will, tears were running down his cheeks. He wasn't a crier, but somehow the dreams had brought them forward, leaving his chest tight, a lump in his throat and his eyes burning as tears poured down his cheeks. "You knew, and you watched me in those nightmares and you don't give a god damn about it!" he spat, breathing heavy. He supposed he'd been making excuses all of the time. He'd been telling himself that Hunter didn't know about his nightmares, that he might have cared if he'd known. But no, Hunter did know; he just didn't fucking care.

"How could you do that?" he continued, despite knowing that Hunter wasn't going to respond. "You... You said you loved me just last week. And I said it back, damn it. You know I've never said that to anyone, and I know you haven't either and... And then..." His words were harder to get out now. He was stumbling over the thickness of his tongue and the tears that were increasing. He didn't even mean to cry. He didn't cry damn it! He angrily scrubbed at his face, trying to stop the traitorous tears from flowing; they didn't.

Before he knew where the words were coming from, he found them tumbling from his mouth, and worse... he meant them. "This thing... this stupid... fucked up thing between us?" He said, hand flying between the two of them, "it's fucking over."

For the briefest second, he saw something stricken flash in Hunter's eyes, perhaps hurt or even anguish, but it disappeared so quickly that Sebastian wondered if he had just imagined it.

Still, Hunter said nothing.

"Did you hear me, Clarington?" Sebastian found himself shouting. "I don't fucking love you, and this fucked up fuck buddy thing is over!" He was panting, chest heaving with emotion, and tears tumbling down his face. His nose was blocked, and he knew he looked a mess; his nose, eyes and cheeks were always red when he cried, and he was basically blubbering here, but he didn't care. All that mattered was that he had to hurt Hunter was badly as Hunter was hurting him. Sebastian had never been one to act out in the hopes of getting a certain reaction, but he found himself desperately wishing Hunter would say something, anything, perhaps beg him to reconsider. For the first time, Sebastian found himself longing to hear those three damn words, the ones Hunter had uttered to him just a week ago.

The three words that Hunter said then were not the ones he'd been begging the god he didn't believe in to say. Instead, they were words that made something that had been splintering in him finally crack and shatter. Breathing suddenly became harder, and he released another sob unintentionally.

"Fine by me."


	14. Chapter 14

_Day 67_

The silence that followed them was heavy. Sebastian had broken down after ending things with Hunter. He’d tried not to let it show, had managed to muffle his sobs (and fuck, he was so annoyed that he’d let anyone get close enough that he  _cried_  over them) but he knew Hunter was perceptive enough to see the shaking of his sleeping bag. The one positive aspect to crying himself to sleep was that he slept dreamlessly for the first time in six nights.

Waking up was hard thanks to the headache that always followed tears, but beyond that he had significantly more energy. It didn’t matter to him. All he felt was a horrible aching in his chest, and burning in his eyes, and a fucking lump in his throat every fucking time he glanced over at Hunter.

The only saving grace was that they had finally reached California. Hell, if they were lucky, in the next day or two they’d reach Los Angeles. Hunter hadn’t said anything, but when they reached Albuquerque, Sebastian had started hunting for cars to hotwire. He wanted this journey over. As a general rule, they hadn’t had much success in finding cars with a tank of fuel, but after searching for some time, Sebastian finally found one and managed to hotwire it.

As Sebastian drove, Hunter had miraculously fallen asleep in the backseat. As angry as he was, Sebastian couldn’t find it in himself to wake Hunter up. Loathe he admit it, he still cared for Hunter. Fuck, he still  _loved_  Hunter, and wanted him to be okay. He just wished that Hunter felt the same way.

The tank ran empty about two hours over the border of California. Sebastian had known the Audi had great fuel efficiency, but he hadn’t actually expected it to last that far. Regardless, he wasn’t going to complain. By his estimates, they’d cut over ten days from their journey. Wow, why hadn’t he done this earlier? Of course, he knew why he hadn’t. Most places they’d tried to find a car that worked had been fruitless, and after some time he and Hunter had stopped searching; in a weird and twisted way, they had kind of been enjoying their time together, difficult as it had been.

Now, all he wanted to do was keep finding cars and just get them the fuck to Los Angeles or San Francisco, or… something. They were aiming for Los Angeles, admittedly, but he didn’t care. He just wanted to be around someone other than Hunter. Hell, at the point, he was willing to take on a swarm of Infected, just to break the horrible silence.

Hunter had not said another word after the previous night, and Sebastian had given up trying. He couldn’t do it. He couldn’t do relationships (if that’s what that thing even was) and he couldn’t do love. All he wanted right then was to get away, fight some fucking Creatures, and start a new life. And then, he was going to get really, really drunk, take up smoking, and go back to his until this point, unmissed slutty ways. Hunter always had a way of bringing out the worst in him. Asshole.

Sebastian knew he should have been feeling something akin to excitement or even relief when the mountains that blocked Los Angeles came into view, but he wasn't. Seeing those mountains somehow signalled that the end was in sight. They didn't know for sure whether sanctuary lay in Los Angeles, or somewhere else, but the simple fact remained was that they were in California. California was the most likely place for them to find other humans, and potentially safety and once they had safety Sebastian knew it was all over.

Hell, it was over now. He was under no false impressions that he and Hunter were done. They hadn't said a word to each other since Sebastian had called things off between them and Hunter had agreed. Sebastian didn't do relationships, or begging, or anything of the sort, but a large part of him kept wishing that Hunter would open up, start talking, beg for Sebastian to reconsider. He wouldn't take him back, of course (oh, who was he kidding? Of course he would), but it was the principle of the matter.

Reaching safety, finding other humans, it had been the ultimate goal for both of them over the past few months. Now, however, the idea terrified him. Once they found others, Hunter would likely leave Sebastian and never return. He'd go off with some pretty blonde, or something, and have his babies and marriage and white picket fence, Hunter may have admitted bisexuality, but Sebastian strongly suspected that back with the rest of humanity, he'd retract that opinion and feign heteronormativity. Sebastian hated that and hated the idea of losing Hunter. A horrible voice in the back of his mind reminded him he'd already lost Hunter and that they'd ended things, but he promptly told that voice to fuck itself with a cactus.

It was mid-May by then, and increasingly hotter, particularly during the days. The nights were rather cold still, something Sebastian had never understood. How the fuck deserts so damn hot during the day, and so fucking cold at night, he'd never understand. And no, he didn't want a perfectly logical explanation; he just wanted to be consistently warm.

He examined his darkening arms as they walked in tense silence. Well, he'd finally earned his tan, just a few months too late for Spring Break. He snorted to himself, shaking his head. At least he wasn't burning. He was freckling however. His stomach tightened when he noticed the significant increase in freckles along his tanned arms; Hunter had previously spent well over an hour kissing and nipping every freckle on Sebastian's skin, even the ones on the backs of his calves. He'd have a field day if they he did that again, would likely have Sebastian a complete mess by the time he even touched him and- No! Sebastian wasn't going to think about that. He shook his head violently, as if the act would rid him off the horrible thoughts. They didn't leave, and he huffed a sigh of frustration.

Instead, he aimed at focussing his attention on calculating the approximate distance to Los Angeles, and how long it'd take them to get there. Map-wise it wasn't all that far, but he didn't know if they'd have to ascend the mountains, which would take significantly more effort, or if there was a way through them that didn't involve climbing the range. The map didn't reveal that much, and Sebastian hadn't been to California before to actually know.

Suddenly, there was a loud sound above them. Sebastian knew it, but after so long in silence, it sounded unfamiliar. With wide eyes, he looked up, curious as to what was causing such a goddamn racket. A sense of relief gushed through him when he saw not one plane, but what seemed to be a whole fleet of them. They were quite small in comparison to the planes he'd seen all of his life, and flying very low, the roar of their engines deafening around him. Despite his desire to clamp his hands over his ears to block out the horrible loudness, he found himself wanting to smile. There was life! There was other human life around, and they had to be somewhere close for them to be flying so low! Oh god, things were finally going to be okay. He'd find his mother, and get food, real fucking food, and a bed, and hot water and...

"Oh shit..." Hunter said beside him, his voice raw from misuse and almost drowned out by the planes.

"What?" Sebastian asked, turning to face him. Hunter's eyes were wide and locked on the fleet in front of them and then... Sebastian saw it. The planes were spreading out over what Sebastian assumed was LA beyond the range, and things began dropping from the planes. Sebastian couldn't really make them out, but he knew within his gut exactly what they were.

"No..." Sebastian breathed. He saw the bomb drop and then a flare of explosion. Next, he heard it. And then, he felt it. The ground shook violently, nearly throwing him off balance. Over and over, more explosions shook the ground. The sound was deafening, even from the distance.

He panicked. He had no idea what to do, and he was almost certain he was about to see his life flashing past his eyes. He was going to die. He'd fought off Creatures and hypothermia and everything under the sun, and he was going to die thanks to some stupid fucking bombs, and oh god, his mother, what about his mother?

Suddenly, he was off his feet, Hunter's arms around him as he yanked him to the ground by a gale of winds. Through the deafening roar of the winds, he heard Hunter give a shout of pain. Despite this, he felt Hunter's arms came up around Sebastian's body, protecting him. Hunter lay atop him, holding him as close as physically possible. A few short seconds later, Sebastian felt the harshest rush of wind he'd ever experienced fly through them, the one that had knocked them to the ground child's play in comparison. He felt things collide with Hunter's back, jolting them violently and knocking them further onto the ground. The wind around them was violent and burning hot, a constant barrage of air displacement from the bombs that was sure to leave Los Angeles and the surrounding range flattened. 

Through it all, Hunter held Sebastian close, arms around his head in an effort to protect Sebastian from the worst of the damage. Sebastian clutched at Hunter's shirt desperately, wincing at some of the items that burst past his arm, cutting him through his shirt. He felt dust push through his clenched eyes, burning them and making them pour tears.

He didn't know how long they lay on the ground, how long the air burned past them, how long the ground shook. Eventually, the thunderous roar of bombs ceased, the sound of planes faded, and the air settled around them. Only when the world was almost silent again did Hunter relax his arms around Sebastian, fingers sliding through the now dusty strands of Sebastian's hair, down his neck, until they fell off his shoulders and released him.

Hunter rolled off of him and sat up, gasping in obvious pain. When Sebastian himself sat up, he saw Hunter's foot sticking at an unusual angle, and he winced. There was no way in hell that that wasn't broken or at the very least sprained badly. Hunter dragged his foot up to him a little, shouting out when the movement aggravated his foot and made pain shoot through him.

"I think it's broken," Sebastian said weakly, not knowing how else to help.

"You fucking think?" Hunter snarled back at him, staring in fury at his broken ankle.

Sebastian pulled back and stared up at Hunter. "What just happened?" he found himself asking, although he could take an educated guess. He ignored Hunter's ankle for the moment, knowing there was absolutely nothing he could do.

Above them, the sky started to fill with a thick, black smoke that was sure to settle on them and choke them if the wind changed and blew it in their direction.

“What… just… happened?” Hunter said slowly, jaw jutting out, long pauses between each word as he leaned away from Sebastian. He could almost see Hunter’s mind working. “What just happened?” He repeated himself, and Sebastian could clearly see him thinking, working through what they’d just seen. “In case you missed it, Smythe, our destination was just  _incinerated_. Our best fucking shot at civilization is now nothing more than a black smear on the coast.”

"No," Sebastian started, voice shaking. He couldn't let Hunter give up. Their survival hinged on their belief that things would be okay, that they'd make it, that against all odds, they'd be able to keep fighting. If they gave up, then there was no fucking point. They may as well just lie down in the desert and let the smoke suffocate them.

"No, no," Sebastian repeated, "that's okay, it'll be okay," he insisted, angry at the tremble in his voice.

“That was our best--no-- _last_  hope, Sebastian. How long before they start just carpet-bombing the entire country? We don’t even know how far this thing has spread. We don’t know if we won’t be shot on sight as a precaution. LA was our only shot, and it’s gone. Where the hell else are we supposed to go?”

Logically, Sebastian knew there were other places to go, but in that moment, when they'd just witnessed their last hope blown apart in front of their eyes, he couldn't think of anything to soothe the distressed Hunter.

“My family’s gone. My friends are gone. My  _life_ is gone. Everything. Gone.” Hunter’s dirty hands were mindlessly clenching and unclenching as if they were rebelling at their own uselessness to fix the situation. He was just repeating those same phrases over and over again, and with each loop his tone seemed to get more and more hopeless until it was finally just… blank.

Sebastian shot to his feet, hearing how even the other boy’s tone had flattened to nothing more than a mindless mumble. “Hunter, stop,” he demanded, grabbing his companion’s hands to force him to look at him. What he saw in Hunter’s eyes made him gasp. Gone was the little tease that always seemed to twinkle there, that always had a hint of knowing something you didn’t. Instead, they were just empty glass. “It… it’ll be okay. We can change our course. We can go somewhere else--”

A small, defeated chuckle bubbled up from Hunter’s throat. “Somewhere else? And where, pray tell, would that be? Somewhere they haven’t bombed yet? Or would you like to look for survivors in a charred wasteland? Because I’m sure we’ll find all kinds of people there just waiting for us with open arms.”

He continued to clench and unclench his fists, eyes wide with panic, tracks cleared on his dusty face from where his eyes had watered from the excessive debris in the air. Sebastian knew better than to think Hunter was actually  _crying_ ; besides, his own eyes were watering up a storm and dripping down his face, likely causing a muddy mess.

Sebastian watched in horror as Hunter paced, or rather, limped around thanks to what Sebastian figured now was a sprained ankle, muttering to himself. He didn't know what to do. Hunter was right. That was their last hope. It felt like all that they'd fought for had been for nothing. Sure, they were alive, but what were they supposed to do? The thought getting them through the past few months had been that they'd reach Los Angeles, and things would be okay. They'd find other humans, they'd be safe. They'd be able to start a new life, and they'd be alive. However, they'd just seen their last hope literally blown apart before their eyes. What was the fucking point?

Over the sound of burning hills and city, Sebastian heard Hunter muttering about how fucking useless it all was. It seemed that his days of silence were beginning to pour out of him in a jumbled rush of words that Sebastian couldn't even half understood. He inched closer, but almost wished he hadn't once he heard the sarcastic mumbling coming from Hunter's lips. "Oh yes, let’s go find survivors in a firebombed city, genius idea, Sebastian, why didn’t I think of that myself? I’m sure there’s tons of people just holed up there waiting to throw them a goddamn parade. Hey, maybe if they’d gotten there a little sooner, they could have had a front row seat for the fireworks."

With a roll of the eyes, Sebastian stepped back, running a dusty hand through his own filthy hair.

Sebastian himself didn't really know what to think. He still had to find his mother. He didn't care if he had to make a raft out of palm trees and cross the ocean, he was not going to stop searching until he'd found her. That was the differing factor for he and Hunter. Sebastian still had something to work towards, someone to find. Hunter's whole family was gone, leaving Hunter as the only remaining Clarington. While Sebastian clutched desperately at the strands of the idea that his mother still lived and he'd find her, Hunter lacked that necessary hope. Sebastian wasn't going to give up; he wasn't sure he could say the same for. He was breaking down before Sebastian's eyes, and it terrified him more than he was willing to admit.

Hunter was supposed to be the strong one. Sebastian knew now that he wasn't always as strong as he liked to make himself out to be; the past few months had taught him that well enough. Regardless, years of seeing Hunter as impenetrable and emotionless kept Sebastian believing that he always had a plan, and when the plan failed, he always had several back up plans. It was clear to him then that Hunter had no back up plan, not for this. Los Angeles had been the plan; the plan was destroyed. What else were they supposed to do?

Hunter suddenly ceased his furious half limp, half pace. Sebastian did a double-take as he'd honestly been expecting that to take longer. He looked up at Hunter with stinging eyes, imploring him to be okay and that his suddenly end to the pacing was a sign that he'd come up with a plan or something.

That was not Hunter's plan.

When Hunter stopped his mindless mumbling, Sebastian’s attention was immediately drawn. Had Hunter come up with a plan? Did he have a new direction for them? Did he work his way out of his funk? Sebastian's eyes were wide as he stared, hope evident in his entire being.

As he watched Hunter slowly draw his handgun from his holster, Sebastian could only watch and listen when he heard the safety being flicked off. The sound of the hammer cocking back seemed to echo around them, and for the first time in his life Sebastian was well and truly afraid. He watched as Hunter slowly raised his arm, settling the barrel of the firearm against his temple.

Suddenly, Sebastian found he wasn’t keen on Hunter’s new plan.


	15. Chapter 15

_Day 67 (cont.)_

Panic gripped Sebastian in a way that he had never experienced before. That was saying something given the past few months of his life, what with constantly running for his life, and trying to save Hunter's on occasion. He'd never felt so terrified in his life and words to explain it were failing him.

Despite his terror, his mouth seemed to be working. "That's it?" he snarled across the distance at Hunter. "You're just going to fucking kill yourself?"

"What's the fucking point, Smythe? Our destination has been completely levelled. There’s nowhere for us to go, no place is safe!" Hunter yelled back, the hand on his gun trembling slightly but not dropping the weapon from where it was pointed at the side of his head.

"No, it's not. We've survived this long, and we can keep surviving just... don't do this, Hunt. Please!" Sebastian's hands were sweaty as he clenched and unclenched them, desperate to reach forward and take the weapon from Hunter's grip. Fear kept him rooted to the spot, the sheer terror that Hunter would accidentally – or worse, purposefully – pull the trigger the best deterrent he could experience.

"But for what? Are you that desperate for a white picket fence that you want to, what, built a farmhouse? Live off the land like that hippie bullshit your mother taught you? Is that your idea of happily ever after? This is the end of the world, Bas, and I don't really intend to stick around to watch it burn. If I'm leaving this world, I'm leaving it on my own fucking terms!"

Sebastian tried again: "For all we know, it's just the US. No other country introduced the vaccine and it's all about the water. It might have spread a bit, but my guess is that the rest of the world is watching us burn, but they're okay. Just... please, give it a chance."

"We just watched them blow up fucking LA. Do you really think that even if things are okay they'll let us in? No. We're just another risk. There's nothing for us out there anymore, Bas." Hunter was breaking, and they both could tell. His arm was visibly shaking with his rage at his own impotence, but he wasn't lowering his gun.

Sebastian shook his head emphatically. "No, I refuse to accept that. My mom is out there, and I'm going to find her. And then, we're going to start some new life, somehow. I don't know how, or where, or any of the logistics, but it'll happen. We just... we'll be okay. Just please," his voice cracked, to his horror, "please don't do this."

"That fucking hope you're clinging to? Useless, and weak, and going to get you killed."

"No!" Sebastian shouted, voice echoing around them, bouncing off the yellow rocks and dirt of the area around them. "No, you ending your life right now is useless and weak. Why would you have fought this hard to survive only to give up now?" Sebastian was pleading, something he never thought he'd do in his life and least of all to Hunter. But in this situation, if Hunter wanted him on his knees, hands clasped in a prayer, he'd do it. The thought of losing Hunter made him feel physically sick. He... he loved Hunter.

"Because there is no point!" Hunter shouted, eyes shuttering out any of the pain and emotion he'd been betraying. Sebastian knew that the change in his expression, the smoothing of the lines in his expression and the coldness beginning to radiate off him meant he had to act fast. Hunter was emotionally shutting down again, and if he did that, Sebastian would lose him, forever.

Without evening thinking about it, he jerked his own handgun from his holster, yanked the safety off and put the gun to his own head. The metal was surprisingly warm, against his scalp, very hard and unforgiving.

He knew he'd done the right thing when he saw panic flash in Hunter's eyes and Hunter's grip on his gun waver. His fingers readjusted his grip slightly and from the few feet away, he saw Hunter swallow.

"What are you doing?" Hunter asked slowly, eyes raising to meet Sebastian's. Sebastian saw genuine fear in them and knew his own betrayed the same emotion.

"You die, and I die too," Sebastian said with surprising firmness. "I can't live without you. And I don't mean that in the mushy, disgusting romantic way. Really, you kill yourself, and you're dooming me as well. You know I'm fucking useless out here alone, and will die within a day of you leaving me to fend for myself." He met Hunter's eyes again, saw all of the pain and anguish from the past few days captured in those few seconds of horrified blue. "You might want to die, but..." Sebastian swallowed, raw emotion cracking his voice a little, "but... but I need you. Hunt, please..." His voice was a whisper then, and as he attempted to draw in a breath, it hitched slightly.

The next moment stretched out for what felt like an age. Sebastian was determined not to break eye contact. His hand sweat against the metal of the gun in his hand, and his arm ached vaguely from holding it against his head for so long. Hunter's eyes were racing over his face, meeting his eyes. His mouth had fallen open slightly, as if he couldn't believe Sebastian was doing this. God, he was so fucking doing this. If Hunter shot himself, Sebastian would follow. This was no Romeo and Juliet bullshit love story; this was fucking real. If Hunter died, there was no physical possibility Sebastian could survive. The heart ache that followed would be a minor inconvenience really in comparison to battling the wilderness alone. The idea of losing Hunter made his eyes water and burn right then.

"Bas, you… you can’t die," Hunter croaked, voice actually shaking. The distress in his face was clear, a surprising expression to see on the usually stoic man’s face.

"Then you don’t get to die either, asshole," Sebastian yelled. His internal monologue was an assortment of panicked prayers and wishes that Hunter wouldn’t kill himself, that he’d drop the damn gun.

Eventually, Hunter shoved the gun back into his holster, expression distraught. "Fuck you," he snarled without any of the venom at Sebastian, and sank to the ground, his pants turning a dusty yellow as the hit the dirt.

It was in that moment that Sebastian knew Hunter hadn’t been lying earlier when he had said he loved Sebastian.

As soon as Hunter holstered the gun, Sebastian jumped forward, yanking it roughly from the leather. He tucked it into the back of his fatigues, the warm metal sticky and gritty from the sweat of Hunter’s hands and the dust continuing to blow around them. He ignored it, holstered his own gun, relief flooding him. He moved forward to Hunter, kneeling beside him, his hands going to rest firmly on Hunter’s shoulders.

Hunter looked up at him, face distraught. His eyes were creased with pain, but whether it was emotional or physical, Sebastian didn’t know.

"I don’t think I can do this, Bas," Hunter croaked, voice broken.

It physically hurt Sebastian to see Hunter like that. Hunter wasn’t a quitter by any stretch of the imagination. He’d fought steroid and needle addiction. He’d come through law school, and had kept them both alive through the past two months. Knowing that Hunter had mentally given up terrified Sebastian.  _Sebastian_  was the quitter, not Hunter. How the hell was he supposed to keep them both going?

"Well, you have to. We both have to," he said softly, his hand finding Hunter’s shaking one. He gripped it firmly in his, both of their hands slick with panic sweat. "Please," he begged, bringing his face closer to Hunter’s, nose brushing Hunter’s.

Hunter closed his eyes and exhaled heavily. "Bas, I can’t walk very far. My ankle is clearly fucked."

"I’ll help you," Sebastian insisted. "We’re both going to get out of this alive. Even if we’re the," his breath hitched at the thought that rushed to him, of his mother being dead, "the only assholes left on this damn planet… We’ll find a way. We’re smart as fuck, and we’re not weaklings. We’ll figure it out. Promise."

Hunter inhaled shakily and released a slow, stuttered sigh, leaning forward that last inch to rest his forehead against Sebastian’s. He didn’t say anything for a long moment, and Sebastian just enjoyed the intimacy of the moment, the terror that had gripped him for the past half hour finally releasing its hold on his throat.

"God, I need a drink," Hunter sighed, finally pulling away and rubbing a hand over his face. Sebastian nodded. Things weren’t fixed, and he was still terrified that Hunter was just acting this way to wrestle the gun out of his hold and shoot himself, but he figured if Hunter was drunk, Sebastian would have an advantage over him.

Sebastian limped over to his backpack and pulled out a half empty bottle of rum he’d taken from the Clarington estate. He threw it over to Hunter who, despite seeming a little out of it, caught it naturally. Hunter took a swig as soon as he’d opened it, barely gasping at the heat of the liquor burning his mouth and throat. Sebastian went back over to him and sat on a red rock.

"We should at least move into the shade or something…" Sebastian sighed, glancing up at the sky, lips twisting as he peered at the sun pulsing down onto them. Hunter shrugged, taking another swallow of the rum. With a roll of his eyes, Sebastian stood up again, his aching and bruised body protesting. He looked around them, desperate to find something in the now desolate landscape to shield them from the heat of the day. The heat of the burning city was also painful and made him sweat heavily in his clothing. There was still the smoke to worry about, but for now, at least the wind was on their side, blowing the smoke away from them rather than at them. For the time being, he and Hunter were really going nowhere, not with Hunter’s foot sticking out at such an odd angle.

His eyes settled on the burning remains of Los Angeles; he knew they had to keep moving forward. Los Angeles was no longer a possibility now, but perhaps San Francisco was still okay. Sebastian wasn’t willing to give up, and if that meant attempting San Francisco, he was going to damn well do it. As Hunter drank through the rum at a pace that worried Sebastian.  Sebastian eased the map out of Hunter’s bag. San Francisco wasn’t too far away; it was at least another few days though. Still, they’d been going for ages. What were another few days?

"Okay soldier, pack up. We’re going to San Fran," Sebastian announced, standing once again.

Hunter stared at him with glazed eyes and snorted. "You’re fucking stupid if you think we’re going to survive this," he slurred, apparently well on the way to drunk.

"Yeah, well, come be stupid with me," Sebastian muttered, bending to fit his backpack to him again, and then help Hunter to his feet.

"No," Hunter snapped, "can get up my fucking self!"

Sebastian sighed and rolled his eyes. "Fine. You have fun with that ankle."

Hunter glared at him but shoved himself to his feet. He swayed, the bottle in his hand almost spilling. His eyes widened as he did, as if distressed that he was going to drop his precious alcohol. Sebastian rolled his eyes again and stepped closer to help Hunter limp towards their destination. However, when Sebastian’s hand touched Hunter’s arm, Hunter shook him off violently.

"I don’t need your fucking help, Smythe," Hunter said, glaring at him. A pang of hurt fluttered in Sebastian’s chest. He’d kind of been hoping that after the way things had gone just before, things were going to be okay and that Hunter was going to give a shit about him again, or at least act on it. Sebastian knew Hunter loved him, if only because of his reaction to Sebastian killing himself with Hunter. He knew because Hunter was willing to continue his own life, despite not wanting to, just so Sebastian could survive. Still, he’d been hoping Hunter would accept Sebastian’s help. He just had to give it time.

It took an excess of an hour to find anything that could double as a shelter. The landscape was covered in debris and the winds of air displacement that had struck Sebastian and Hunter had clearly been stronger even a few miles closer to the city. In the end, it was a half blown over tree that provided them with shelter from the intense midday sun. Hunter drank the entire way, but Sebastian supposed his sips were getting smaller because by the time they found the destroyed tree, he was stumbling excessively but still had a good few drinks left in the bottle.

"Okay, enough of that shit," Sebastian said, taking the bottle from Hunter as he collapsed onto the ground, hugging his backpack to his face like a pillow. 

"Oh, fuck yourself on a cactus," Hunter muttered, rubbing his face against the canvas of the backpack. He was clearly inebriated but given the way his ankle had looked earlier, twisted completely off to the side, he was kind of glad for it. And Sebastian didn't even want to  _think_  about the way he'd nearly killed himself.

Sebastian didn't make one of his usual comments, instead electing to roll his eyes and drag his sleeping bag out for Hunter to lie on. Hunter didn't seem like he was going to do that himself, and lying on the ground was probably one of his less wise options.

Hunter glared at Sebastian when he came over and put a hand on his shoulders, tugging him out of his backpack. Hunter's arms were floppy and when Sebastian attempted to roll him over, he groaned. Fuck, Hunter was a lot heavier than he looked. His body was like a dead weight, and Hunter was not at all cooperative. Eventually, Sebastian did manage to roll him onto the sleeping bag, and dragged his pack to elevate Hunter's broken ankle.

"Alright, asshole, I have no idea what I'm doing but I'm going to look at this, okay? If you kick me, I'll piss on your bag, got it?" He knelt down at Hunter's foot and stared at the dusty boot shod foot in front of him. He wasn't sure if he was better off taking the boot off or leaving it on. The boot was likely supporting it and possibly helping with the swelling. Still, Sebastian wanted to inspect it, even though he had no damn idea of what he was doing. Even if he did, the few things he knew about treating injuries were not really possible. He knew to elevate injuries, rest them, and use ice.

Ice was in somewhat short supply and Hunter had just walked for well over an hour. Regardless, he was going to do it anyway. He wanted to check the bone hadn't stuck out of the ankle or anything disgusting.

His fingers slipped under the worn laces of Hunter's boots, and he slowly tugged them open. Hunter lay back on the sleeping bag, humming a song Sebastian recognised but couldn't place. Sebastian had seen Hunter drunk enough times to know he was well and truly plastered. He was flopping around as if his limbs were weighted with lead, his eyes glazed, cheeks flushed. And he was  _singing_. Hunter sometimes sang when he made coffee, or went about his day, but this was different, and in a different situation Sebastian might have described it as adorable. Right then it was comforting, but he was too worried and stressed to be thinking of adjectives such as adorable.

Carefully, he eased Hunter's boot off, dropping it to the ground beside him. The dust puffed slightly, forming a little orange-red cloud. Hunter groaned slightly and his lower lip stuck out in some parody of a pout.

Sebastian ignored his protest and slowly rolled his slightly damp sock off as well, dropping that onto Hunter's stomach rather than the ground. Hunter's ankle was noticeably swollen and beginning to bruise quite colourfully. He didn't know much about injuries if he was to be honest; he'd broken his collarbone once during lacrosse and had had an operation to bolt it back in place, but beyond that he didn't know much. He had no idea how to help something probably broken. He ran his eyes along Hunter's feet, and absently wondered if he was ticklish. He'd never actually tried, and on a whim, ran a finger up the arch of Hunter's foot. He instantly regretted it when Hunter yanked it back, a laugh falling from his mouth and then a whine of pain as he moved his foot too quickly.

"Hey! Stop, I'm ticklish!" Hunter protested, giggling and then sighing as he put his foot back down on his bag. Sebastian gave a rueful chuckle and nodded, inspecting it.

"Yeah, in my uneducated opinion, it's definitely broken," Sebastian said, mouth forming a straight line.

"I coulda told ya that," Hunter muttered, head falling back. "Wow, that tree is as broken as my foot. How unlucky are we, tree?"

Seriously, he was talking to a tree?

Sebastian ran another finger up Hunter's foot, bringing his attention back to him. "Hey, Hunt?" Sebastian said slowly, avoiding Hunter's eyes. "Thanks for, yanno, saving me."

Hunter snorted and his head lolled on the ground. "No problems," he slurred, a lazy grin on his face. "You have a pretty face, and a pretty butt, and I don't want you to be hurt, even when I hate you."

Sebastian gave a small chuckle. "Thanks Hunt," he said, shaking his head and running a dirty hand through his hair.

As Hunter worked his way through the bottle of alcohol, Sebastian sat and watched, occasionally examining the map as if it would begin magically spilling answers at him. After an hour, Hunter passed out on the sleeping bags, the bottle of rum still containing at least a good few mouthfuls of amber liquid. Still, Sebastian wasn't going to complain about Hunter not finishing the bottle; he was going to be hungover and dehydrated enough when he awoke later, if not still drunk.

Sebastian lay back against his backpack as dusk began to fall. He let his head fall back and stared up at the pinkish red sky clouded by smoke, saw some stars begin to sparkle despite it all.

It was now dead silent, the only sounds breaking through the deafening silence were his and Hunter's breathing. He was sure he could hear his heartbeat pounding in his ears but beyond that... nothing. He wasn't listening out for anything, and fell into some kind of half sleep as he lay on the ground. The air was cooling significantly, a pleasant contrast from the heat of the day. At least one thing had gone in their favour that day and that was that the wind continued to blow the smoke around them; Sebastian was not keen on the idea of choking to death on smoke. Really, it would have been a stupid way to die when they'd survived so much.

When he was dragged out of his doze, it was because he heard the slow shuffle of feet. In his half-asleep state, bringing himself to consciousness was harder than he'd anticipated. He dragged his heavy eyes open, rubbing the grittiness out of them as he slowly sat up. It had been a long while since he'd heard more than himself and Hunter walking and the sound was loud and made him uncomfortable. Hunter continued to snore loudly on the sleeping bags.

Suddenly, he jolted upright, realising what it meant to hear others walking. He looked around and found nothing but when he poked his head out the side of their little shelter frantically, his eyes fell upon his worst nightmare. It wasn't just a small group of Creatures that filled his line of sight; it was hundreds. Hundreds upon hundreds of Creatures were racing through the deserted area, stretching as far as he could see. Sebastian's heart started racing. He'd hoped that the bombs would have destroyed the lingering Creatures, but apparently anyone who wasn't killed in the blast was now heading out into the dessert, perhaps seeking safety and food, more blood to feast on.

The stench of blood overpowered Sebastian's senses and he jerked a hand to his face in an effort to stop himself choking on the smell. He leaned across to Hunter and shook his shoulder, trying desperately to wake him up.

"Hunt?" he breathed, trying not to bring the Creatures attention to them. "Hunter," he snapped a little louder, voice still breathy. Hunter didn't so much as stir, just kept snoring uselessly. "Hunter, oh my god, wake the fuck up," he ground out through gritted teeth, shaking Hunter a little harder this time. Hunter's arm flopped down but he remained unconscious.

Sebastian tried to keep a cool head as he looked around, continuing to shake Hunter. He and Hunter could potentially outrun the hoard approaching them, but that would mean that Hunter had to wake up in the next minute. Alternatively, the Infected might not come near them; that was unlikely, however, given that there were so many and they all seemed to be heading in Sebastian and Hunter's general direction. Given that Hunter just wasn't waking up, and Sebastian was absolutely not going to leave him, the only option that made sense was to shoot any Creature that got too close. It went against all of Sebastian's instincts to sit there and wait, but he couldn't think of anything else. He took a few shaky breaths, hoping that if he calmed down a little a better idea would come to him; no idea came. All that happened was an increase in panic, as if the increase in air provided his brain with the increased ability to think of worst case scenarios.

Slowly, hoping not to draw attention to them and almost hoping against hope that the Creatures wouldn't notice them in their little hideout, Sebastian inched over towards his shotgun. Taking care not to make much sound, he started getting it ready, sliding in a magazine and removing the safety.

His hands were sweating on the metal of the gun, making it feel a little slippery in his hands. He wiped them on his dusty pants, palms getting a little muddy from the combination of sweat and dirt. He wiped them again with a little more force, putting his hands back on the gun. Shit. There was no physical way he'd be able to shoot himself out of this if they got any closer. If they noticed them... he'd stand no chance. The best thing to do would be to shoot them while they were still at a distance and picked them off as they approached. He'd have more time to potentially reload his weapons in that case. He nudged Hunter again, and when Hunter didn't so much as twitch, he exhaled heavily before shakily stepping out of the safety of their hideout.

The Creatures were closer than he'd expected, moving faster than he was generally used to them moving. He brought the shotgun up and steadied his stance and shot at the Infected closest to him. The Creature fell. Pandemonium broke out. He wasn't sure if the Creatures were attempting to come at him, or flee for their lives. Did they actually have self-preservation instincts?

Frankly, he didn't give a fuck. He was too busy trying to pick the ones coming closest to him off. He knew he had to keep calm. He kept repeating the phrase over and over in his mind, knowing he required a level head to keep shooting with his accuracy and speed. It was as if the past few months were truly catching up to him, and the removal of their last hope began to swamp him. His aim began to falter and he began to miss more and more, wasting bullets with missed shots or body shots that didn't really hinder the Creatures progress.

As his magazine emptied and he shakily tried to replace it, a loss of hope began to swallow him. What was the point to all of this? Hunter was right. They'd just seen their last hope levelled by bombs; they may as well just give up. What was he doing fighting against these fucking Creatures when they were just going to destroy him anyway?

Hunter continued to lay unconscious beside him. Oh. That was why.

Unconscious as he was, and complete fucking asshole that he was, Sebastian loved him. He wanted to protect him. He wanted them to get out of all of this and have a life together, somewhere. That was why he had to keep fighting when all of the odds were against him.

The Creatures got closer and closer. Sebastian continued unloading bullets into them, not looking at them long enough to watch them crumple. Fuck. There were so many of them. He knew he didn't have enough bullets to get through the swarm.

He fumbled with another magazine. They were so close now. He was beginning to see their teeth, stained with blood, could see the matted mess of hair. He could see expressions, all vacant eyes that stared right through him. They smelled even worse up close. Shit.

They were so close. He frantically clicked another magazine into place and just kept shooting. They were barely twelve feet away now. Fuck. He was done for. He wanted to crawl beside Hunter and hold him, kiss him goodbye, close his eyes and just let them take him. But he couldn't. He had to stand there and protect them both as if by some magic things would turn out okay and they'd survive this fucking end of the world. If he was going to die, he was going down fighting. 


	16. Chapter 16

_Day 68 to 85._

Over and over, Sebastian sent bullets into the Creatures that drew closer. They were definitely aware of his presence now and were making their way towards him but thankfully, he was able to keep up with them, firing bullet after bullet into their brains. The numbers didn't seem to dwindle though and Sebastian was going to need to reload any moment now.

He quickly dropped to his knee to frantically reload the shotgun, grateful for the years he'd spent shooting with his father for giving him a cool head. He may have been hot headed in most situations, but when it came to weapons he knew how to keep himself calm, avoid panic, and maintain focus. With his weapon reloaded, he stood again, continuing to pick away at the Creatures approaching faster and faster. Hunter didn't move beside him; he was probably still snoring but Sebastian didn't hear that over the crack of the gun.

He realised slowly that the chances of them both getting out of this alive were small. Maybe Hunter had had the right idea with wanting to leave on his own terms. The idea of falling to these bastards sickened Sebastian and above all, terrified him.

Still, he kept shooting. He wasn't going to let them both die, not right then. He began to tune out the sounds, the sights, just shooting more and more, feeling somewhat like a machine. They were coming and he was not going to go down with them.

Light started to pierce the darkness falling around them. Was it another bomb falling? A fire? And then, as the light brightened, Sebastian heard the roar of car engines pushing through the night and approaching them. He heard guns going off and in a quick act of self-preservation, he dived beneath the small shelter of tree and metal he and Hunter were hiding behind previously. He knew it wasn't the best defence against guns, but it was better than standing out in the open. There were several cars he realised as he saw various beams of light, and there were at least four guns going off quickly, taking down the Creatures left, right and centre. Miraculously, only a few bullets pierced the sheet of metal shield Sebastian and Hunter, whizzing well past his head from where he crouched beside Hunter on the floor.

The shooting went on for a few minutes, something that felt like an age

Eventually, it all died down and the light poured over he and Hunter. One of the cars sounded very close. He had a choice to make and he had to make it soon. Did he alert the other outside to his presence, and risk getting a bullet through his own head, or did he stay quiet and hope for the best? He peered down at Hunter, saw his broken foot and his ashen face. No, they both needed help.

Slowly, hands rising above his head in a rather submissive and defenceless gesture, Sebastian inched out of their hide away. He winced as he crawled directly into the light, the brightness of it hurting his eyes and making them burn. His eyes were watering and stinging enough from the smoke in the air and the kick up of the dust. His ears were ringing from the loudness of the guns and the explosion earlier that day. Still, he did his best to seem like his usual charming self as he slowly got to his feet, hands still in the air.

"Um, hi."

He heard the cock of several guns and when he looked around saw that several semi-automatics were aimed at him. He stood his ground, hands still in the air. A boy barely a few years older than Sebastian, wearing well-fitting military garb waved the hands down. He was standing in the back of a Jeep and he leaned forward on the bar, frowning down at Sebastian. Sebastian could hardly see the others through the contrast of the bright lights of the Jeeps and the overwhelming darkness around them. From the outlines of shadows he could see, the other men were older but their uniforms were not fitting as well. Sebastian took a rough guess that they were just other civilians, like Sebastian, and the younger man leading them was probably military or ex-military, like Hunter.

"How the fuck did you survive that?" the young man asked, frowning down at Sebastian.

Sebastian winced through the headlights up at the guy. Well, hey, at least they weren't shooting him on sight. That said, he looked to be a far cry from the other Infected he'd run across in the past few months. He was glad that they didn't think he was Infected.

"Sheer dumb luck?" Sebastian tried, arms starting to burn from the lactic acid building in them. From behind the leader, one of the men snorted with laughter. "I… My friend and I have come all the way from New York. You're the first people we've seen in months," he confessed, conveniently leaving out the parts where they'd hidden in the Amish barn or the young couple that had tried to kill him and Hunter.

The leader whistled, obviously impressed. Slowly, Sebastian lowered his raised arms, realising that they weren't going to shoot him. "Alright. We'll take you to Port Hueneme. Hop in, kid," he said, despite the fact that he wasn't much older than Sebastian was.

A rush of relief burst through Sebastian. He felt positively giddy with it and gave a dry sob. Humans. Humans that weren't Infected, or going to kill them on sight. He shifted back towards the hiding spot. "My friend…" he said, gesturing at it, inching himself back in to get Hunter.

Behind him, he heard a few men come down. They grabbed the two bags and another man helped Sebastian get Hunter up. He reeked of alcohol still, and walking was clearly a difficult task for him. Hell, Sebastian didn't know how he hadn't been woken by the gunshots before. He must have been unconscious, not asleep.

"Wha?" Hunter mumbled blearily, barely able to walk. They stumbled him over to one of the jeeps and helped Hunter into it. Sebastian climbed in after him, Hunter collapsing against Sebastian's shoulder, completely out of it.

"Alright men, move out!" the leader shouted to the other cars and the engines picked up, kicking into drive.

Sebastian was able to catch glimpses past the darkness to see hundreds of fallen Creatures. The smell of rotting flesh and blood was never one he'd get used to, he realised. The night rushed past them, filling Sebastian with a cold he hadn't felt in weeks. The open top of the jeeps provided no shelter from the wind and he was assaulted with the smell of burning city. It might have been nice on a cleaner night, he thought. And definitely would have been nicer if Hunter were conscious, and not collapsed against his arm and making the hand around his shoulder go numb. The road was bumpy at times and Hunter occasionally dropped from Sebastian's shoulder. Each time, Sebastian righted him, bringing Hunter's head to rest against his neck.

He didn't know how long they drove, just watched with weary eyes as they bypassed Los Angeles and cut through a range of mountains. Eventually, the leader moved back to sit on Sebastian's other side, squishing him in the backseat. He was too exhausted and relieved to care too much.

"Where are we going?" Sebastian shouted over the wind rushing past them.

"Safety," he called back. Sebastian nodded, but didn't try to continue the conversation given the bluster around them.

Sebastian must have fallen asleep because the next thing he knew, someone was shaking his shoulder roughly. He heard Hunter groan loudly beside him and felt him struggle to sit up. The arm wrapped around Hunter's shoulder was numb and he hissed in pain as the blood began rushing back to his fingers. He shook his arms out as Hunter pushed himself up, hands going to his face.

"You okay?" Sebastian asked, leaning forward and resting a comforting hand on Hunter's shoulders.

"Ugh," Hunter grunted, any words he might have garbled out muffled by his hands. "Where are we?"

Sebastian looked around, wincing at the bright lights that pounded down on him. It was still definitely night, probably close to midnight, but there were lights that reminded him of the industrial sized ones at stadiums beating down on them. Around the jeeps were a good number of men and women in military clothing, moving around the space. Most of them looked tired and some were calling out good night to the others.

He did a double-take. Holy shit. Survivors! There were other survivors! They had come to the right place! Los Angeles had been blown apart, but there were other fucking humans around and oh god, Sebastian was going to cry with happiness.

He looked around frantically, grinning like a fool, saw lights in windows and heard the harsh hum of a few electricity generators. His eyes caught what appeared to be the outline of a cruise ship, and wow. Just wow.

"Okay, c'mon guys," the leader said from the ground. He'd jumped out as soon as they'd stopped and he was now back with a few doctors, or what Sebastian assumed were doctors, given the red cross on their navy blue shirts and the fact that one of them had  _Paramedic_  in big white writing across his back.

Sebastian eased himself out of the jeep, landing on the bitumen below him. He ached all over and his eyes and ears still held painful reminders of the past day, but beyond that, all he felt was relief. He was just so happy. His heart felt like it would burst out of his throat.

Hunter was struggling to get down and Sebastian honestly couldn't tell if he was still drunk or exceptionally hung over. Regardless, he did not look good so Sebastian reached an arm up to help Hunter down. Perhaps in his normal state he'd have shoved the arm away and insisted he could do things himself. In that moment, however, he just took Sebastian's hand and slumped out of the vehicle, leaning on it heavily when he hit the ground.

One of the doctors turned to Sebastian.

"Names?"

"Sebastian Smythe," he said, and then cocked his head at Hunter, "and Hunter Clarington."

The leader, whose name Sebastian never learned, gave a small smile. "Okay, great. Nice meeting you both," he said, walking off towards

"Sebastian, I'm Doctor Sampson. You'll be coming with me. Hunter doesn't look so good, so we'll get some guys to help him go with Doctor Marshall," one of the men wearing a navy shirt said, stepping forward towards Sebastian. Sebastian recoiled, arm going out in front of Hunter somewhat protectively.

"Wait, what? Why do we have to be separated?" Sebastian asked, panic rising in his voice. He didn't care if it was for five minutes, the idea of being away from Hunter was  _so_ not okay in his books.

"We'll need to quarantine you both for at least two weeks to ensure you're free of the Infection and-"

"Two weeks?" Sebastian sputtered. "No! You can't do that."

"I'm afraid so, Mr… what did you say your last name was again?"

"Smythe, not that it matters. You…" he backed up, arm still crossing Hunter's chest protectively. Hunter continued to slump against it, holding onto it in sheer effort to stand upright. "No, you can't split us up. Do you…" his voice cracked but for once he didn't care about any shows of masculinity and strength, "do you  _know_  what we've been through?"

"I can guess," the doctor said, stepping forward carefully. "But it's become standard procedure. We need to quarantine you both. Please, come with me," he continued, slowly inching forward, as if he was used to dealing with humans who acted like deer caught in headlights.

"No," Sebastian insisted, voice cracking further as he put an arm around Hunter. Hunter buried his face in Sebastian's shoulder and Sebastian could feel him sniffing against him, one arm circling his waist and then…. Sebastian was being pried away from Hunter. One set of arms was pulling him, another dragging Hunter.

Sebastian fought like his life depended on it; in that moment, it felt like it did. He couldn't be away from Hunter. He  _needed_  Hunter and loved him and oh god, what if they hurt him, what if they hurt Sebastian? Who would protect them if not each other?

"No no no," Sebastian shouted, trying desperately to get back to Hunter, but the gap between them was widening. The arms around him slipped slightly, grabbed his wrist but Sebastian continued to struggle, trying to fight the man off. He tried to shake him off, moving violently, almost chucking a fit as he fought to get back to Hunter. Hunter looked so destroyed, slumping into the hold of two men, one on either side. He looked up at Sebastian wearily and offered him a weak look, one that Sebastian read as Hunter wanting him there too but Hunter not having the fight left in him at that moment, and Sebastian fought harder. Hunter  _needed_  him.

Distantly, he heard a sickening pop and then… There was a violent flash of pain then as his arm moved at an unnatural angle as he fought the arms holding him. Pain flared through his shoulder, down his arm, through his chest and made him want to collapse from it, want to vomit from the pain.

He stumbled, shouting out in pain, the fight in him disappearing with alarming speed in the face of his now dislocated shoulder. The doctor was cursing and pushing forward. He heard shouts about sedating him and felt another prick of pain as a needle was shoved into his thigh and then any lingering fight that might have remained faded. The world around him fell into black.

Sebastian awoke slowly. He became aware of his surroundings very gradually. He was on a bed. He was warm. The room smelled clean.  _He_  smelled clean. He was alone; there was no sounds of any other person near him. There was no sound of forest or wildlife of any kind. There was the distant sound of… people.

He groaned and rolled over before stopping with a gasp of pain. His arm was in a sling, one pinned tightly to his chest, hand up near his shoulder. He was wearing some loose, pale blue shirt that seemed very reminiscent of the scrubs he'd seen his mother in at times, and with heavy fingers slowly eased it to the side. His shoulder was mottled with dark purple bruises. Fuck.

Slowly, he eased himself up into a sitting position, resting heavily against the wall the little bed was pressed against. He felt like shit, to say the least. His head was foggy and heavy and his body felt like it wasn't his somehow. He peered around the room, but it revealed nothing to him beyond the fact that it was beige, that there was a sink and toilet, and he was completely alone. Oh, and there was a window, but that was high up and he'd have to get out of bed to have a look outside.

Instead of bothering with that, he slumped back into the bed and fell back into unconsciousness.

When he came to again, it was because someone was taking his blood pressure. He opened his eyes slowly, blinked blearily up at the doctor. Doctor… Sampson didn't notice for the moment, just scribbled some notes on a clipboard.

"Where am I?" he croaked.

Sampson looked down at him. "Ah, finally up, Sebastian. You're in Port Hueneme's medical facility."

"Oh."

"That means nothing to you, I suppose," Sampson said, putting the clipboard under his arm. "Port Hueneme has become somewhat of a sanctuary in these times. As I'm sure you're aware, an Infection has spread across the United States, and spread well into South America and up north to Canada. The rest of the world is helping where they can but Port Hueneme has become the base for survivors to make it to. After a few weeks of quarantine here to ensure you're completely free of the Infection, you'll be free to either remain and help out, or go to Australasia."

"Oh," Sebastian repeated, feeling oddly distanced, emotions far away. "That's nice. Is Hunter okay?"

"Mr Clarington is doing well."

"Okay…" Sebastian sighed and snuggled into his pillow, falling asleep again.

The third time he woke was with a seriously aching bladder. Fuck, how long had he been asleep? He really fucking had to pee. And… Oh god, he was going to be sick. Why was there a fucking  _needle_  in his arm and oh god, oh god, no, Sebastian didn't do needles and…

Okay, he was getting sick of this whole passing out thing. The next time he woke up, there was what he assumed was a nurse or another doctor at his arm and he was on the floor. Why was he…?

"Oh god, get it out of me. Get it out, get it out!" he shouted, desperately trying to tug the IV from his arm with his mouth. His spare arm was held tightly in a sling, preventing him from using it for anything fucking useful.

"It's coming out, it's coming out," the woman reassured, voice soothing but firm, "but you need to hold still."

Taking some sharp inhales in an effort to calm himself, Sebastian tried to remain still. He was trembling and sweating and he swore when she eased the IV out of his arm. God, he  _hated_  needles.

"Why did I have that?" he whined, rubbing the spot she'd withdrawn the cannula, despite the bandaid she'd pressed over it.

"You've been out for three days. We had to keep your fluids up," she explained, getting off the floor. Sebastian slowly eased himself back up onto the bed, his scrubs falling off of his shoulders. Wow. When had he gotten so thin?

"Do you need anything else?"

Sebastian shook his head weakly. The woman left, locking the door behind her. Sebastian sighed and stumbled over to the toilet to finally fucking pee, before he collapsed back onto his bed. He was still sore, and oddly tired, but he didn't have the same bone-deep exhaustion from the past few days.

Instead of going back to sleep, he shifted over to the window. It was around his head height, and definitely too small to crawl out of, even for a skinny guy like him, but hey, at least it offered a view of the outside world. He saw people in BDU moving around below him, his room apparently on a third floor somewhere. There were a few large ships in the harbour, blocking a lot of the view of the ocean, but hey, it was still exciting.

Eventually, he sat back down, smiling weakly to himself. Sure, he was in some fucking quarantine, and he was without Hunter but… he was alive. They were both alive. They were going to fucking get through this.

It had been twelve days apparently. Twelve fucking days. God, kill him now.

Every day was the same. A doctor or two would come in and check his vitals. Apparently doctors were excluded from the quarantine as they'd proven to be clear of the Infection. They'd also established that it wasn't  _actually_  infectious, even if they bit another person. The quarantine was not to ensure their safety, but rather to make sure they didn't later present symptoms of turning into a Creature and then go batshit.

After checking his vitals, they'd draw some blood which made him pass out  _every damn time_ , and then leave. Beyond that, he was left alone. Food, surprisingly acceptable food given that they were clearly rations, was slipped under the door, and at least he had water. And on the pro side, they gave him a "1001 Brain Scramblers" book, filled with crosswords and sudoku, and a rather cool puzzle that involved a lot of crosses and finally ticking the right boxes. He didn't know what it was called, but those were his favourite. Still, despite the puzzles, he was bored out of his skull. He no longer got to hear about Hunter, the doctor insisting that it was patient confidentiality.

Sebastian wasn't sleeping well. The sounds were weird and above all, he had no idea about Hunter.

Also, he was pretty sure he was getting fat, given all he could do was walk in circles around his tiny room, or cell as he preferred to think of it as. Well, okay, fat was an exaggeration; he could no longer see his ribs and was probably returning to his pre-end-of-the-world state.

Lunch had just finished and his tray had been taken from under the door, and he was lying on the bed staring at the ceiling. Fuck he was bored. There was only so much sudoku a person could do before they literally went insane. He went to curl around on his side but was again reminded that his shoulder was dislocated. The bruises had begun to fade into an ugly assortment of green and yellow and the pain was actually minimal as long as he didn't roll onto it. Unfortunately for him, he frequently forgot about it and did just that.

He sighed and threw his pencil into the air, caught it one handed and threw it up again. He heard the lock in his door slide out and he frowned and eased himself upright, legs falling over the side of the bed in preparation to stand. Nobody ever came in at this time of day and he wasn't due for release for at least another two days. Apparently protocols said that all new people were restricted to quarantine for a minimum of two weeks.

The door opened and he was suddenly very glad he was sitting down.

"Sebastian?" Her voice was trembling. Sebastian's heart leapt into his throat. Sebastian was across the room in two steps, screwing his stupid shoulder and throwing his arms around her, burying his head in her hair. He'd forgotten how short and tiny she was, her 5'2" frame minuscule compared to his 6'3". She smelled amazing, just like her old self, of lavender that he was certain she'd grown herself and of the same soap they used frequently in hospitals. Her soft hands came up to comb through his hair, blunt fingernails massaging at his scalp. He felt her tears run onto his neck and begin to drip down onto his ugly blue scrubs. 

"Maman," he choked. Maybe in the past he would have been mortified at the tears that burst out of him, but then, all he felt was relief so intense he couldn't handle it. After what had happened with the Clarington's, he'd been certain he was never going to see his mother again. He hadn't realised how much he doubted that fact until he saw her again and he sobbed into the top of her head "I thought I'd never see you again." Suddenly, sobs overwhelmed him, the past few months catching up with him in full force. He could hardly stand, and despite her tiny frame, his mother managed to move him over to the bed.

On the bed, she continued to cling to him, stroking his hair and face as he cried into her chest and slowly progressed down to rest his head on her soft stomach. She sheltered him, arms tight around him, body covering his protectively. He didn't even know why he was crying, just that he was so happy to see her and oh god, everything that had happened in the past few months and fucking Hunter and... actually, maybe he did have a good reason to cry.

Over his head, his mother muttered sweet nothings in French to him, soothing him in a way she hadn't done since, god, since he was in single digits, that was for sure.

Eventually, he calmed down. His breathing evened out, and his eyes burned and his head throbbed. His mother just kept kissing the top of his head over and over again.

"I'm so glad I found you," she said to him softly when he'd finally cried himself out. "I've been waiting for months and months and was so scared," she confessed.

"Me too," he whispered, voice raw from the sobs that had wracked his body for the past half hour. "Mommy, I was so scared I'd never see you again!" He buried his head in her lap again, desperate to staunch the tears threatening to leak out of his eyes again.

"Oh baby," she crooned, "you haven't called me mommy since you started to learn English," she chuckled, pressing another soft kiss to his head, this one on his ear.

Finally, with an aching head, he sat up, resting his head on her shoulder. "Have you been here the whole time?"

He felt her nod. "They needed my help in the medical department. I'm sorry it took me so long to find out you were here. I told them to let me know, but they failed to mention it to me," she said, shaking her head now.

"Maybe they forgot my last name was different to yours?" he offered.

"They did," she admitted dryly. "But still, you're here now, and you're safe. I'm glad you're letting them do your blood work. It's looking good, baby," she reassured him. "You'll be out in two days."

Sebastian wrinkled his nose. She knew how much he hated needles, and she'd obviously read his file. She would have found out he fainted each time and they now made him lie down for each blood test.

She stayed with him for the next few hours, only leaving when his answers became slurred with tiredness. She honest to god tucked him into his bed and kissed his forehead and promised she'd be back in the morning.

Sebastian slept soundly for the first time since the night before the Clarington house.


	17. Chapter 17

_Day 69_

Sebastian was released, as promised, on the fourteenth day. His mother had returned the following day to keep him company. She had told him she was supposed to be helping but was too glad Sebastian was back. He'd spent the day curled into her side, telling her about all of the things that had happened in the past two months. Well, he left out the sex with Hunter bit, but… she probably worked it out for herself.

In turn, his mother told him about what had been happening on the west coast and in the outside world. From what his mother had told him, Los Angeles had been infested with Creatures, constantly attacking those in the Port and as such the decision had been made to blow it up and destroy any Creatures that fled to the desert. That explained why the jeeps had been in the desert that night and had found Hunter and Sebastian. Now, Port Hueneme was being used as a temporary camp. Survivors were put into quarantine to ensure that they definitely didn't carry the mutation that the Creatures had. Following quarantine, they were either permitted to stay and help out at the Port or they were given the option to take a boat over to Australia.

In the crisis of the USA and subsequently most of North and Central America falling, the rest of the world had helped wherever possible. Due to space availability, Australia had offered itself as a place for refugees. The boat left each week. Sebastian would be on the next ship out of Port, due to leave in three days. Sebastian's mother would be joining him; she'd only lingered in the hopes that she'd find Sebastian through all of the horror.

On the fourteenth day, instead of sticking another needle in his arm, they opened his door and handed him a new set of clothing. Sebastian grinned like a loon. His mother had gone back to work, leaving him to his own devices. He'd been expecting to be released, but still, it was nice to have the confirmation. He was free! He was healthy, and there were people, actual people around and his mother had looked at Hunter's file. Aside from his ankle, he was okay.

Wearing the horrible navy wear he was given, which was admittedly better than his own overused and worn clothing, he raced down the stairs of the medical facility. His arm was well on its way to healing, but if he overdid it he was going to have issues.

Now, he just had to find Hunter. The last time they'd been around each other they hadn't exactly been on the best terms, but god, he wanted to see him again, kiss him. He'd all but forgotten his anger at Hunter, felt like he could forgive everything the second he saw him. He just hoped Hunter was the same.

His mother had told him he didn't have to go far, just out of the building and a little south. The building he needed was marked as 42 in big white numbers. From the looks of the place, all the buildings around them were numbers, the paint fresh and obviously a result of the past two months. As Sebastian moved through the other people, all dressed in military garb but most clearly civilians like himself, he took in how things had been set up. There were soldiers with guns around, but most people were just people.

Sebastian moved quickly through the small crowd of people. Desperately, his eyes scanned the crowds, all but praying that he'd see a glimpse of Hunter through the throngs. He hoped Hunter had been released and it wouldn't be too hard to find him. For a moment, he was grateful for his height, granting him the ability to see well above the others. A few times, he found himself jumping, although the added height didn't make his vision any clearer.

As he hastened through the streets, he saw a familiar shape leaving building 42, moving slowly on crutches. A small envelope was clenched in his hand, the solid key for his temporary room inside acting as the only thing from crushing the paper into nothing. He started shaking before taking off at a sprint towards him. He was suddenly glad for all of the years he'd spent playing lacrosse; he was easily able to dodge the people between him and where he needed to be.

He all but crashed into Hunter, colliding with him in full bodily force. He heard Hunter grunt, the rattle of his crutches hitting the brick of building 42 and scratching of metal against rough stone as they clattered to the ground. Sebastian threw his arms around Hunter's neck, ignoring his stupid sling and formerly dislocated shoulder, all but climbing him.

"Ugh, Sebastian," Hunter groaned as he fell back against the wall. Despite this, he brought his arms up to wrap around Sebastian as well, crushing him in a hug. For a brief moment, he felt his feet being lifted from the ground as Hunter tugged him in. Sebastian's ribs hurt from how tightly he was hugging him, his arms shaking from how violently Sebastian hugged back. He didn't care. He was just  _so fucking glad_  he was there with Hunter again. A ball of anxiety that had been building in his stomach for the past few weeks disappeared entirely and the relief he'd felt when he'd seen his mother paled in comparison to this. A laugh bubbled out of him and he gave a wet chuckle, tugging Hunter in closer, breathing in the wonderful smell of his hair.

Finally, after hugging for a good thirty seconds, he pulled back a few inches and stared down at Hunter, eyes darting from lips to eyes and back again. Hunter's own eyes were doing the same dance, a tiny smile quirking the corners of his hips. A few breathless seconds passed before Hunter's fingers, the ones which had somehow laced their way into his hair, tugged him down the inch between them both and kissed him thoroughly. Sebastian took a bare second to wonder if it was physically possible for his heart to burst with happiness before he melted thoroughly into the kiss.

Hunter's mouth was hot against his, slightly damp and so very, very perfect. Sebastian dragged himself away for only a breath before he was going back to Hunter's lips, kissing him with all of the desperation in the world. All of the feelings that had been building in him for the past few weeks, and then some, came pouring out into the kiss, a frantic melding of mouths that tried to convey everything they'd been unwilling or unable to say. He knew that they might have to talk about things later (ha! Sebastian never talked about feelings, who was he kidding), but for that moment he was just going to kiss Hunter with everything he had.

Finally, Hunter broke the kiss, his hands cupping both of Sebastian's cheeks and stroking them gently. Sebastian leaned forward and rested his forehead, brushed his nose against Hunter's. Hunter  _grinned_  at him and gave him one final peck.

"I'm so sorry," Hunter breathed. Holy crap. Had they given Hunter really good drugs in there or something? He'd never thought he'd see the day that Hunter actually apologised for anything, even if he ought to.

"I love you," Sebastian said simply, unable to articulate anything else. If the past two weeks had taught him nothing… Actually, the last two weeks really had taught him very little except that wow, he loved Hunter so much that it was actually ridiculous.

"I love you too," Hunter reassured him, moving in to kiss him again, fingers firm but gentle on his cheeks as he pulled him in. Sebastian kissed him back for a few moments before drawing away, apologies on his lips.

"C'mon. I have a room here."

"Me too," Hunter said, going to tug an envelope out of his pocket. Sebastian chuckled when he realised Hunter was standing on one foot, obviously not willing to stand on the other. When Sebastian glanced down, he saw it was bandaged heavily; his mother had told him it was just a bad sprain, luckily, and not a broken bone.

When Hunter withdrew his envelope, Sebastian released a snort of laughter. Same room, same building. His sneaky mom! He knew she would have planned that.

"C'mon. Seriously. I want to show you how much I love you," Sebastian winked, grabbing Hunter's arm, "if you know what I mean."

*

The living quarters were just as basic as the quarantine ones. A double bed in an otherwise plain room; there wasn't even a toilet and sink in the bedroom. Frankly, Sebastian didn't care. All he wanted to do was strip Hunter of every stitch of clothing and ride him until they both collapsed.

Hunter, however, had other ideas. As soon as the door was locked, Hunter dragged Sebastian in close and kissed him so thoroughly that he felt a little light-headed. As they kissed, Hunter began teasing Sebastian's shirt over his shoulders, kissing the mottled bruises as he went. The shirt dropped to the floor in a light rustle of fabric. Sebastian unbuttoned Hunter's, returning the favour, nuzzling the warm skin around his neck and shoulders. Hunter's shirt joined Sebastian's on the floor.

Slowly, Hunter eased Sebastian back onto the bed, kissing him the whole way. It occurred to Sebastian as they slowly worked each other's clothing off that… this wasn't sex. However, the second he thought the words 'making love', he wanted to dry retch, so he refused to think of it in those terms. They definitely were, but wow, he hated thinking of it like that. Still, it was the first time they had ever been so loving and gentle with each other. Sebastian loved rough sex, but… okay, this was  _kind of_  nice.

Sebastian clung to Hunter, kissing him every second that he possibly could. Hunter seemed to share the sentiment, not wanting to tear his mouth away from Sebastian's for more than slight gasps as fingers trailed flesh, exploring each other for the first time in weeks. He'd forgotten how wonderful Hunter's skin felt beneath his hands, how good he felt between his thighs, how warm and perfect and strong he felt over him. Finally, Hunter teased off Sebastian's underwear and then his own, mouth still attached to Sebastian's in frantic kisses.

A part of him wanted to tell Hunter to hurry up and fuck him, but the larger, more dominant part of him was enjoying the slow gentleness of it all, the way Hunter lavished him with kisses and made his knees so weak that he might not have been able to hold himself up were they actually standing. Hunter couldn't stop staring at him either, his blue eyes regularly catching Sebastian's green ones, his swollen mouth curving into a grin each time they did.

Finally, with Sebastian's legs wrapped tightly around his waist and Hunter's fingers twined in his, Hunter pressed achingly slowly inside. His forehead rested on Sebastian's, eyes watching carefully for every minute movement of Sebastian's face. He gently took Sebastian, arms shifting to wrap around him and hold him tightly with each movement. His eyelids fluttered, head falling back, mouth dropping open as he gasped and whined with each incredible feeling that washed over him.

After that, it was all gasps and sounds muffled in the others skin and mouth, eye contact constantly being found. Sebastian's fingers curled in the sheets, only to be captured between Hunter's each time, before Hunter's hands began exploring him again, fingertips running from his thighs to his stomach, chest, neck and face, finding his hands again, and repeating the whole process.

He didn't know how long Hunter fucked him for, just that he was pretty sure he was flown to the stars and back, that every nerve sung by the end of it, and holy crap, who'd have thought that slow and gentle could be so damn good. When they'd both finally come, Hunter curled around him, spooning up behind him and kissed the back of his neck and ears.

"I missed you," Sebastian said softly.

"Missed you too, idiot," Hunter reassured him, pressing another warm kiss to his shoulder. There was a very long pause before Hunter breathed "I really am sorry…" He sounded strained, like apologies were foreign to him (and they kind of were, Sebastian reminded himself), but the fact that Sebastian knew Hunter hated them and yet still made the effort to apologise to him meant the fucking world to him. Instead of saying anything, Sebastian just kissed him gently, accepting his apology.

After a moment of enjoying the kisses, Sebastian rolled around so that he could put his head under Hunter's neck. Hunter's arms remained wrapped tightly around him, fingertips gently tracing absent patterns into his skin.

"Are you okay now?" Sebastian found himself asking. Wow, was he high or something? He didn't usually ask that kind of shit. What was worse was that he genuinely wanted to know.

Hunter nodded. "When I was in quarantine they… they had someone talk to me. I… kind of destroyed some things." Sebastian could feel his frown from above him and chuckled. "And… I got to deal with it a bit more."

Sebastian nodded and kissed him softly again. "I'm glad," he said when he drew his mouth a bare inch away.

They lay there for a long while, kissing slowly and gently, bodies pressed impossibly close, hands exploring skin and mouths soon following after. When they'd finally recuperated enough, Sebastian rolled himself up on top of Hunter and rode him roughly. He'd never realised how much he'd relied on both arms before until he was unable to use one, and he lost his balance a few times, particularly when things got rougher and the bed was shaking and he was bouncing himself on Hunter's cock violently, back arched and head falling back and then suddenly falling to the side. Hunter laughed it off (and wow, it was an honest to god laugh, something Sebastian felt like he hadn't truly heard before), and just wrapped his arms around Sebastian and brought him in closer before fucking up into him vigorously.

After that, Hunter took full control, fucking Sebastian close and tight, leaning up to kiss him because of the added height. Sebastian couldn't help but comment on it, snorting with laughter about how Hunter hated Sebastian being taller than him and... wow, he forgot the rest of what he was going to say as his words disappeared into a moan.

He came again, arms and legs which were previously tight around him loosening as he became boneless and floppy from his orgasm. He continued to cling, a little snuggle drunk, as Hunter continued fucking him. When Hunter reached his own completion a few minutes later, he allowed them to both fall back into the bed, Sebastian lying across Hunter's chest.

"I still love you," Hunter said, voice a little tight and strained and muffled by Sebastian's hair from where he was pressing light kisses to it.

"I'm glad," Sebastian grinned, lifting his head up to rest his chin on the middle of Hunter's chest. He saw a flicker of fear cross Hunter's face before it disappeared into his usual expressionless visage. "And yes, of course I still love you, you fucking nitwit." He paused for a moment. "But, if you ever do anything like... that again, I will break your nose. You know I don't do shit like this. Don't take it for granted," he frowned.

Hunter just rolled his eyes and stared at the ceiling. "Fine."

. _end._


End file.
